Japan fans win praise for stadium cleaning at World Cup 2022
Japan’s football fans are earning respect for their tradition of staying behind to help clean stadiums after World Cup games.
Japan’s stunning victory over Germany left their football fans in a state of joyous disbelief on Wednesday, Aljazeera reports.
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.
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.
Japanese fans at the opening World Cup match cleaned up the stands after Qatar vs Ecuador.
Touch of class from the most respectful fans in the world. 👏 🇯🇵pic.twitter.com/R07jcATv76
— World Cup Updates (@wc22updates) November 21, 2022
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.
