DOHA, Qatar
Japan’s national football team stunning victory over Germany left their football fans in a state of joyous disbelief on Wednesday.
Now, supporters of the Samurai
Blue are earning praise in Qatar for an off-pitch tradition that appears to be
uniquely Japanese: Cleaning up stadiums after other football fans have left.
In what is becoming an
increasingly common sight, Japanese fans stayed behind after their team’s win
over Germany on Wednesday and helped to clean up the Khalifa International
Stadium.
As soon as the stadium started
to empty, Japanese supporters could be seen taking out light blue disposable
rubbish bags and getting to work.
While the sight of spectators
staying back to clean up may be a surprise to many, for the Japanese it is not
out of the ordinary.
“What you think is special is
actually nothing unusual for us,” Danno, a Japanese fan, told Al Jazeera with a
casual shrug.
Danno does not understand why
people think the gesture is odd.
“When we use the toilet, we
clean it ourselves. When we leave a room, we make sure it’s tidy. That’s the
custom,” he explained.
“We can’t leave a place without making it clean. It’s a part of our education, everyday learning.”
Social media posts featuring
Japanese football fans with rubbish bags started doing the rounds in the days
following the opening game of the tournament, between Qatar and Ecuador at Al
Bayt Stadium on Sunday.
In one post, a man is
expressing his shock at a Japanese fan cleaning inside the Al Bayt Stadium long
after most spectators had left and in a match that did not feature the Japanese
side.
Samurai Blue’s supporters have
been cleaning up football stadiums for a while; even a defeat does not detract
them from this important post-match task.
During the 2018 World Cup in
Russia, Japan lost their round-of-16 match against Belgium with an injury-time
goal. Japanese
fans were heartbroken but that did not detract them from getting out
their disposable rubbish bag and going to work.
Saysuka, who spoke to Al
Jazeera ahead of the match against Germany, said she is aware people are taking
notice of their tradition but noted the fans are not doing it for publicity.
“Cleanliness and tidiness is
like religion to us in Japan and we treasure it,” she said, before opening her
backpack to show a pack of rubbish bags she will use and distribute to others
after the match.
While social media videos of
the stadium-cleaning Japanese may be relatively new, tidiness and organisation
have deep roots in Japanese culture. These characteristics are gaining a
worldwide following through books and television shows.
Japanese organising consultant
Marie Kondo is now a global household name thanks to her books and a popular
Netflix series on the topic.
Takshi, a Japanese football
supporter who lives in the United States but grew up in Japan, says he learned
the tradition of tidiness as a child.
“We had to clean our rooms,
our bathrooms, our classrooms, and then as we grow up, it becomes a part of our
lives,” he said.
After Japan’s
victory over Germany, Takshi and his 13-year-old son Kayde stayed behind
with their fellow supporter.
With Japan now having three
points on the table and two more group matches to go, fans and spectators can
expect to be treated to more Japanese aesthetics, on and off the football
pitch. - Al Jazeera
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