In Tokyo, modern samurai collect garbage to fight incivility

Published on : 07/23/2021 – 15:56Modified : 07/23/2021 – 16:05

We can meet the group of samurai for almost 13 years in the streets of Tokyo, as now on social networks, where they share entertaining and educational content since the start of the health crisis. They are particularly successful on TikTok, where they have amassed nearly 300,000 subscribers, but also on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube.

“We hope to make people aware of a problem, while bringing them a moment of joy”

Nakagawara is the manager of “Gomi Hiroi Samurai:

It’s a global problem, and although Japan is famous for its cleanliness, there is still garbage lying around the streets of Tokyo. That’s why we decided to get rid of all this waste through our street performances. We hope to succeed in making people aware of this problem while bringing them a moment of joy.

We have already heard people say that they stopped throwing their waste in the street after watching our videos, others even say that they started to collect it when they saw it lying around. It all warmed our hearts.

Garbage outbreak with Covid-19

As people return to the great outdoors after a year of confinement, thewaste has invaded urban space. And the litter-hunter samurai intend to turn the tide.

The amount of litter on our streets has increased since the start of the pandemic as people have used many more disposable items for safety and hygiene reasons. We found tons of surgical masks on the streets. More recently it is rather cans and bottles of alcoholic drinks: more and more people are drinking in the streets.

In the comments of our posts, we see people saying that they want to do the same in their country. Especially at this time, when the rubbish is piling up more and more in the streets.

“We do not condemn those who throw away waste, but rather their sin”

This is the group’s motto: do not punish the guilty, but their “sin” according to their own term. Rather, this is good news for those who accidentally cross the path of the samurai near a stray rubbish.

Historical samurai used to kill people, which is clearly not relevant to us. We like to think of ourselves as a new type of samurai, in tune with the new generation. Every time we pick up trash, we rather say “Punish the immoral heart” [qui réside en chaque personne qui jette des ordures, NDLR]

So we do not pronounce a sentence against the rubbish itself, but against the corrupt mind which has judged it to be normal to pollute in this way. Because neither the waste nor the person who threw it is fundamentally bad. Rather, it is the judgment of the person who goes astray. This is what we judge. So as not to hate the person, but the sin they have made.

In Japan, dumping garbage on public roads is illegal and can be punished with up to 5 years in prison or a fine of up to 10 million yen, or approximately 77,000 euros.

The “garbage-collecting samurai” are above all professional actors: they take their free time for these street performances. But dream of making it a full-time profession, even well beyond Japanese borders.

If you want to support the “Gomi Hiroi Samourai” or just discover their work, you can contact them through their channel TikTok, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.