Supporters of Japan’s soccer team, Samurai Blue, stayed behind after the final whistle at the Dallas Stadium (Arlington, Texas) on Sunday to collect trash from the stands before leaving the venue. Earlier, Japan – Netherlands match ended in a draw.
The fans used the same blue bags they had waved enthusiastically during their country’s match against the Netherlands in Group F.
Japan people – known for their civic sense and cleanliness, won kudos again as their traditional clean-up effort made headlines across the globe. Sharing of the video performing the act on the official handle of FIFA on X – “The reason Japan fans clean the stadium after each game. Respect”, has already gone viral and clocked 22.4 million views.
This picking up litter from the stadium first drew international attention during Japan’s debut World Cup appearance in France in 1998. Japanese fans have repeated the gesture at every World Cup since, including the Qatar tournament in 2022 and repeated again in 2026.
Japanese culture and respect for everyone seems to be the driving force behind this gesture. “It’s the culture, but it’s like the respect for everything- respect for the players, supporters and also for the stadium. We are honoured to be here, so we don’t want to make the mess and then leave it. So, I think that’s that’s the reason why we are doing it,” said one of their fans.
Interestingly, rubbish bins are incredibly rare in Japanese public spaces, and you won’t find traditional street-corner trash cans. Culturally, people are expected to carry their personal waste with them until they find a proper place to dispose of it.
“Japanese sports fans at world events who clean up the stadium are behaving much the same way they did when they learned how to enjoy sports as school boys and girls,” Koichi Nakano, a professor of politics and history at Sophia University, told AP.
