A dispatch from Tokyo, where citizens follow unwritten rules
There is no litter on the streets of Tokyo—and also no litter baskets. That combination tells us much about how this great city maintains its quality of life. Here, public order is preserved not primarily by the authorities, but by citizens. In contrast with today’s New York, Tokyo relies on norms.
Tokyo’s lack of litter baskets has a back story, one the city shares with New York: a terrorist attack. In March 1995, a death-cult group released deadly sarin gas on three lines of the Tokyo subway system, including one adjacent to Japan’s parliament, the Diet. The rush-hour attack killed 13 and sickened more than 1,000 others. Officials, concerned that litter baskets might be used for bombs and future attacks, removed them.
