Where do I throw my trash?

Short answer

Almost nowhere on the street. The tourism board’s own advice is to carry it and take it home when there is no bin — stations and convenience stores are the exceptions, and there you sort it four ways rather than dropping it in one hole.

A row of sorted bins on a Japanese station concourse, one opening per category

Why the street has no bins

Japan is unusually clean without running on public bins, and the reason is that people carry their rubbish with them. The national tourism board states it plainly: respecting your surroundings means not littering, cleaning up after yourself, and taking trash home with you when garbage cans are not available.

So the bag in your hand is not a sign that something has gone wrong. It is the normal state of things, and everyone around you is doing the same with a pocket or a tote.

Where the bins actually are

Two places reliably have them: most train stations, and convenience stores. Those two cover most of a day out, and planning your disposal around them works better than looking for a bin on the street.

At a convenience store the bins sit by the entrance or just inside, and it is considered good form to make a small purchase when you use them. The store is providing them for customers, not as public infrastructure.

Four slots, not one

A bin here is usually a set rather than a single opening: burnables, which is the majority of non-recyclable waste; non-burnables such as glass, wire and small electronics; aluminium cans; and PET bottles, meaning most plastic drink bottles.

A drink bottle is handled in parts. The label comes off along a perforated line, and caps often have their own chute. Getting this wrong is not an offence, but sorting it correctly is the part visitors most often miss.