Japanese football fans have been praised for their ‘class’ and ‘respect’ after cleaning up after themselves following their team’s victory over England at Wembley yesterday.
The Samurai Blue gave Thomas Tuchel a major headache by inflicting a 1-0 defeat on the Three Lions in the team’s final run-out before the 26-man squad who’ll travel to the United States for the World Cup is named.
A first half strike from Kaoru Mitoma went unanswered as England failed to break down their visitors’ stubborn defence, leaving the German manager with plenty of questions to ponder before the tournament.
The smattering of Japanese fans who witnessed a huge victory for their nation earned further credit by tidying up the away section before leaving Wembley and heading into central London.
The national stadium’s official social media account shared footage of fans putting litter into rubbish bags after the full-time whistle had blown, with the caption ‘Thank you’.
‘Coming to our country, beating us up, and then still cleaning for us? Damn. That’s some sort of respect. Thank you Japan and respect,’ replied one football fan.
‘The Japanese are among the most humble people in the world. Respect,’ said another.
A third added: ‘It’s called respect, we can learn a lot from them.’
Hajime Moriyasu’s team faced Scotland on Saturday night at Hampden Park, where fans also left their section of the national stadium spotless at full-time. The visitors won the contest 1-0.
Japan’s fans’ cleanliness has followed them all over the world when supporting the Samurai Blue, with fans regularly taking blue bin bags with them into venues for the purpose of post-match clean ups.
They were lauded for their tidiness during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar too, cleaning up after themselves following their landmark 2-1 victory over Germany.
After their 2-1 win over Colmbia at the 2018 tournament in Russia, fans also ensured they left no mess behind before leaving the Mordovia Arena in Saransk.
Should this behaviour become standard at stadiums in YOUR view?
That move at the 2018 tournament seemed to spark a trend, with Senegalese fans later seen tidying up following their win over Poland.
Japan’s players have also earned praise for leaving changing rooms in a spotless state.
While fans were cleaning the stands after the win over Germany, the team also left their dressing room in pristine condition – even leaving behind origami swans with a thank you note in Japanese and Arabic.
In Japan, cleanliness forms a huge part of the culture and is instilled in people from an early age.
Scott North, a professor of sociology at Osaka University, told the BBC in 2018 that tidying is a way of ‘demonstrating pride in the Japanese way of life’.
‘It’s not just part of the football culture but part of Japanese culture,’ he said. ‘You often hear people say that football is a reflection of culture. An important aspect of Japanese society is making sure that everything is absolutely clean and that’s the case in all sporting events and certainly also in football.
‘Cleaning up after football matches is an extension of basic behaviours that are taught in school, where the children clean their school classrooms and hallways,’ he added.
‘With constant reminders throughout childhood, these behaviours become habits for much of the population.’
