As anyone living in Japan knows the separation of garbage and when it can be put out for collection is often a mix of complicated rules, special coloured bags and basically just a huge pain in the butt.
I am all for recycling- I was our cans and glasses and separate them accordingly, I pack our cardboard boxes and tie them up with duct tape or red string (the two acceptable methods) and put them out ONLY if it is not raining as the instructions say.
Funabashi, where I am, is actually not as strict as some places I have lived. Musashino-shi (not sure now but definitely before) was a complicated system that involved us have SEVEN different bins in our apartment that separated clean plastic, cans, tins, clean paper, burnable rubbish, non burnable rubbish and dangerous rubbish (like batteries) and possibly something I am forgetting.
Most things in Funabashi are burnable- there is no washing plastic or separating clean paper or milk cartons and burnable rubbish is put out three times a week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday nights between 5pm-8pm. Noah is still awake at this time and Shun is not yet home so I carry the rubbish down in one hand with Noah on my hip holding him with the other hand. The further along I get in my pregnancy the harder this is getting- luckily Shun is usually around to do it on Saturday`s. I once asked the oyasan (building manager?) if I could get my husband to put it out in the mornings and he said no because of the bird. Fair enough although there is a lock on the cage (that we do not have a key for) so it could keep the bird out- it gets unlocked at about 5pm on the days it is used. Cans, bottles, cardboard etc is put on on a Wednesday morning. Non-burnable rubbish (broken glass, metal, batteries) is put out only once a month on every third Thursday MORNING. Of course I always forget but luckily we don`t have much non-burnable rubbish (although I have a small bag of stuff in one of our bins that of course can not go out now until AFTER I get back from Australia as I missed putting it out a couple of weeks ago and my hub will never remember).
Last weekend I did a HUGE clean out of our clothes and filled 4 garbage bags filled with stuff- things that Shun was never going to wear/use again, clothes that the next baby won`t need and a lot of my stuff too. It was definitely an overdue project. I did it on the Saturday with the specific thought in mind that Shun could carry all the bags downstairs to put in the garbage. He was concerned I couldn`t throw out clothes with the burnable rubbish but he checked the info too and read it in the same way I did.
I read the information and knew I couldn`t put shoes or handbags in the burnable rubbish clothes but the way I read it I could put things with metal buttons like jeans as long as it was with other clothes. That was fine. I also made sure there were only clothing items in those particular bags- our regular rubbish I kept in the normal bag and added the nappies just before Shun took them down.
This morning I had to step out briefly and I left with Shun as he was going for work- the oyasan started yelling at my husband that he needed to speak to him and talked about the garbage and chucking out clothes and futons etc etc and how we did it wrong and how we couldn`t mix other garbage with it. I said to Shun (in Japanese) it was only clothes in the bags and we didn`t chuck out any futons. The oyasan proceeded to say that they saw the “gaijin lady” on the camera`s chucking the stuff away blah blah blah. Shun said “No, she never threw it away I took everything downstairs to the garbage because she can`t lift the heavy bags” and the oyasan said “no no, definitely foreign woman on the camera” and Shun said “Not her, please check camera again. We didn`t mix the garbage. If it is just clothes bags you want us to take back upstairs show me where and I will take them back up- please tell us when we are supposed to throw them away” and the oyasan said “Yes please take them back upstairs, I rang about the other ones and shiyakusho already took them away. Please ring the shiyakusho yourself next time” (Shiyakusho is city hall- I guess when you chuck away a lot of clothing items you need to ring the city to collect them. Oyasan did say that one or two items in the burnable garbage are okay but not a lot.)…..
Anyway Shun went off with the oyasan and bought back two bags of stuff and he said to me “I don`t think I threw these away? Did you? Are these ours?” And I open the bags and there is a futon, not ours and a bag with mens business stuff in it. Also not ours and I told Shun to take them back to the oyasan and say they are not ours but next time we have clothes to throw away I will confirm with him about the procedure and thank him again for calling shiyakusho for our other stuff but make sure he understands that there were ONLY clothes in the bags we threw out.
ANyway when Shun met me outside again (by this time he was going to be late for work) he said that the oyasan insisted it was me that threw those two bags out (of stuff that is not ours) and that he has it on camera. Shun advised him to check the camera again and asked if there were any other western people living in our apartment block (There isn`t)
I feel like they are laying blame on me because they think I don`t understand the garbage rules. I did the right thing though (I read the instructions and Shun read them too and it really did say nothing about ringing the shiyakusho and there were pictures of clothes under the burnable rubbish heading) and I certainly did not throw away nappies with a bunch of clothes. I also didn`t take down ANY of the clothing rubbish so they can`t possibly have me on camera throwing away clothing items.
Extremely pissed off.
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In other news I am not feeling 100%. I think it is a mix of tiredness, pregnancy hormones and other pregnancy related ails. I am so excited about going to Australia next week though and hoping I feel heaps better by then.
I don`t feel SICK exactly- more just uneasy. I seem to get a lot of pain in my tummy from the baby pushing on things. I had this with Noah but of course I wasn`t running after Noah at the time so could take it easy wen I needed to although this is a lot harder to do of course now that Noah is here and getting into everything. I seem to wake up every morning still feeling like I could sleep another 10 hours yet when I go to bed I seem to have too much on my mind to actually be able to get to sleep.
I am hoping this feeling will pass. The garbage dispute certainly did not help my mood.
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I am just a twenty something Aussie girl living in Chiba, Japan with my Japanese husband trying to make sense of the crazy Japanese world we live in! We welcomed our first son in December 2009 (Noah) and a second son in January 2011, 2 months premature (Shion). I am working hard at raising them to be confident, bilingual, happy kids!
Oh no! Bloody Japan and it’s crazy rubbish sorting rules! Sounds like you did the right thing and tired to be as careful as possible! I can’t believe they were so insistant on blaming you, even though Shun told them it wasn’t! Poor you! It’s nice to be blamed for something you didn’t do! Just take each day as it comes, and try not to put so much pressure on yourself to do so much! Sounds like the time out in Australia is just what you need right now! May you be blessed with lots of sleep ins and time for yourself! xxoo big hugs! xxoo Katie
I would ask to see the video.
This is why Taka takes out the garbage, always. Of course ours has to be out in the mornings
Oh wow, that sounds like something that would rile me up too. It seems so easy to blame the foreigner sometimes. You sound like you know more about the rubbish rules that I do! I didnt know that one about the metal buttons on clothes! That would really piss me off too. I am sorry this happened to you, especially when you are not feeling 100%.
Just think that in a week you will have so many helpers and some respite! Your last trip to Oz sounded like it did you wonders, so keep sight of the light at the end of the tunnel!! It will be here before you know it!
Oooo that would piss me right off. I’d ask to see the video and then threaten to sue them for discrimination! Well, maybe not quite that far but at least tell them where to shove their video and generalisations and all.
Must be awful feeling under crap, I’m run down half the time from running after a toddler and I’m not even preggers, you’re a superwoman to be even functioning!!
The chilly weather probably isn’t helping either so will be awesome for you to get back in Oz for some sunny days!
Katie- It just added to an already bad day
I know it wasn`t me and Shun knows it wasn`t me and that is the main thing but it still makes me angry.
Melanie- I wish Shun could take it out. It is hard to carry Noah and the garbage down and I have no idea how I will do it once baby 2 arrives. When Noah was really little he went to bed early and I just used to do it then because even if he woke up I knew he would be safe in his cot. I can`t do this now (not since he was about 4-5 months)- and if it is really heavy I always strain my arms.
Shun does the cans and glass usually since that is a morning and always does Saturday afternoon/night.
Shun told the oyasan to review the video and if he still believed it was me then Shun wished to see the video. It is all bullshit.
Nooh- Where I used to live I had to remove the buttons or zips if you were putting it in burnable so I guess it depends on where you live? Where I used to live had one day a week though that clothes, futon or towels etc went out and if the buttons etc were on it I guess it was okay because a different truck picked it all up.
I was extremely pissed off. Bitched to Shun and bitched to my mum and bitched to my blog and feel much better!
*hugs*
Corinne, you snuck in!
It really did piss me off as I know how strict they are here and I always try to respect the garbage rules as much as I can because of it but when he came out with this I wanted to punch the guy in the face. Bastard.
I want to see this so called video also.
Actually reading this makes me feel a little bit better about the fact that I recently threw out a bag of clothes and I felt kind of guilty about it (we always used to donate old stuff like that back home.) At least I know that it’s technically allowed, lol. I think I sometimes feel like I’m taking advantage of Funabashi’s lax rules… though I hope this doesn’t mean MY oyasan will come knocking any time soon
Anyway, getting back on topic, that’s so lame for you! I guess another good thing about you going back to Australia for the next several weeks is that if Oyasan decides he wants to blame you for any other shenanigans, Shun can shove it right back in his face and reveal that you’re not even in country right now. Oh snap!
Ohhhh that whole ‘I have video evidence’ thing would pee me off!!! You just gotta start wearing unmistakable clothes when you take the rubbish out- akubra and moleskins one day, bikini the next, then high heels and an evening dress then a hula getup- there will be no more mistaking you and your errant rubbish dropping neighbour. As well as majorly pissed doesn’t it make you kind of curious to se your doppelganger?
And at least they don’t fine you! I cost my parents $20 for putting out a split beanbag full of polystyrene balls in the recycling. In Japan polystyrene is recyclable….
Wow that’s just plain discrimination right there. How retarded.
I can’t believe he’s demanding that you did it when you yourself know you didnt!? Wow… You need to get a dog, and leave “gifts” on the oyasan’s doorstep, is what I think. Or…
Move to Setagayaku… I’ve never sorted my garbage (just bottles, can, pet bottles…but I don’t wash or unlabel them and sometimes I’m lazy and throw them in reg garbage) and we can throw ours into the bin at any time…though it’s only picked up 3x a week, not sure when. =) It’d be cool to live closer too..
Anyways, hope the baby decides to let you take it easy at least some of the time. Hang in there, Lulu, only halfway to go right!
What an ass!!
One of the reasons we moved here is everyone in our neighbourhood is young, and I noticed in our old house the people most likely to make a stupid fuss about garbage are old people with nothing else to do. They always shoved garbage that didn’t belong to me on my front step, it totally pissed me off. Why would I look at Japanese girly mags?
Just smile and nod and then chuck it all away.
Stupid ‘blame the foreigners’ mania around garbage annoys the hell out of me. Sure I don’t have all those rules in Canada, but that doesn’t mean I am incapable of following them!!
Stupid obstinate annoying oyasan! He’ll likely keep insisting even when you all know it wasn’t you, so if he keeps making a fuss about it do insist on actually seeing the video.
And keep venting away if it makes you feel better!
that would make me so angry, too!!
i love munakata’s recycling! we have to separate stuff (of course), but we take it to one place and drop it off. no special days of the month for cans/dangerous materials/pet bottles, no special bags, no forgetting! the recycle place is manned by grouchy old men, and they actually tell people off a lot, but they’re rather forgiving to me, esp. when i have a little one “helping” me! they definitely know who is recycling what and no one blames the foreigner.
and for people who can’t get around easily, most neighborhoods have a pick up day (maybe once a month) and collect recyclables. elementary kids also come around about every 3-4 months with a notice that they will collect newspapers and cardboard on X day, so just leave it out on the curb. it’s rather nice!
i hope you get an apology (however unlikely) from the grouchy oyasan!
And if it was a foreign woman on the video, it never crossed his mind that maybe there is another foreigner in the neighboorhood somewhere that walked her crap over to another building? Japanese people do this all the time. Oh, wait, no they don’t. They separate perfectly everthing every single time.
I would demand to see the video (just to inconvenience your landlord, if he is going to be so bold as to accuse you of this) and then when it is obviously not you on the video, I would stare him straight in the eyes and demand an apology. Let him see what he gets when he accuses you of throwing out the wrong garbage. Also, this garbage thing would totally terrify me if I lived in Japan.
That blame the gaijin thing towards the end of my time in Tokyo would drive me insane. The blame us for garbage, which like you wasn’t our garbage that was wrong, for parking our bikes in the wrong spot near our house (we were told we had permission to park there, then suddenly someone put a sign up only in English to tell us that we can’t park there anymore) omg I was so angry and in a way releived to be leaving soon (it all happened in the last month of me living there) I hate the racism and the mono culture of Japan sometimes, the blame the Chinese for crime thing, the hiding your heritage if you have Korean grandparents. I could go on…But I do love Japan too, and wish I could live there again regardless
BTW I doubt there is even a video! Would they even have had time to watch? And not all gaijin are pregnant, pretty sure they could tell if it was you or not. Not buying it.
Oh the Japanese rubbish separation system – don’t miss that! I used to take my rubbish out really late at night so that no-one would know it was mine! I also kept all the identifying things like addressed envelopes, foreign food wrapping etc so that I couldn’t be found! Naughty eh!
I highly doubt there is a video, but as everyone else said, ask to see it. You shouldn’t have to shoulder the blame when it was obviously someone else who was rebelling against the system!
I hate the issues about the rubbish. It absolutely did my head in! I’d be pissed too.