When you dipose of bulky garbage in Japan, you can’t just throw it in the trash. You have to pay someone to come and haul it away. This is in stark contrast to New York, where you can leave bulky trash (say, your car) on the street and come back only minutes later to find that someone has taken it away for you, free of charge.
One of the nice things about our apartment complex is they have a regular bulky-trash-hauling-away service. So, instead of calling someone up, you can leave your items in the garbage room, attach a note with your name and apartment number and they’ll come by, collect the money (500-1000 Yen, about $5-10) and haul away your garbage.
The Bait
Having just bought a used microwave and vacuum cleaner from a friend, we needed to dispose of our current ones. Yukari attached a note with our name and apartment number, but as I was getting ready to take them downstairs, I realized this would be a perfect chance to test the famed Japanese honest streak.
So, I went and found some scotch tape, taped 500 yen to the vacuum cleaner and the microwave and waited to see what would happen. To my mild disappointment, no one took the bait. The garbage guy came up, told me had taken the 1000 yen off of the vacuum and microwave and that I owed him another 400 yen between the two. I guess there really is something to this…
Posted by pmk at June 27, 2005 2:08 AM | TrackBack