How to dispose of household garbage
The public office of cities, wards, towns and villages collect garbage from households.
How the garbage is separated and put out for collection differs from district to district.
The place, day and time for garbage collection are fixed. Ask a neighbor or your city, ward, town or village office for details.
Put your garbage out on the assigned day in the assigned manner.


How to separate garbage
Garbage is separated differently depending on the district.
In some districts, garbage is divided into types and put into specific garbage boxes for collection.
Ask a neighbor or your city, ward, town or village office for details.
Obey the rules of garbage disposal in your district when you dispose of your garbage.


How to dispose of bulky garbage (sodai gomi) or large item garbage (ogata gomi)
The collection of bulky/large-item garbage such as electrical appliances (such as air conditioners, televisions, refrigerators, and washing machines are not included) and furniture, etc. varies according to each district.
In some districts the collection day is fixed; in others you must contact the public office in charge and put garbage out on a decided day. In some districts, collection fees must be paid in advance.
For information on how to dispose of bulky/large item garbage, contact your city, ward, town or village office.


Unneeded air conditioners, televisions, refrigerators, and washing machines
Air conditioners, televisions, refrigerators and washing machines are not collected as bulky/large item garbage. When they become unusable or unneeded, they should be returned to the shop where they were bought, or to the shop where you purchased the replacement air conditioner, television, refrigerator or washing machine, for recycling. A recycling fee and transportation fee must be paid. If you cannot ask the store to do this service, contact your city, ward, town or village office.


The collection of items which can be recycled as resources
Items such as old newspapers, magazines, empty cans, bottles, etc. which can be recycled as resources are collected separately from regular garbage in some districts.
The kinds of items which can be recycled and the methods of collection vary from district to district.
For information on how to put out such items for collection, ask a neighbor or your city, ward, town or village office.


Note 1    The authorities responsible for applications, procedures, services and the naming of these may vary according to the city, ward, town and village.
     　  For details, ask a person who understands Japanese to enquire for you at your city, ward, town or village office.

Note 2    The information given is that confirmed as of July 2002. Note that a new system or system revisions may have been introduced after this date.

This information is from the CLAIR website. The Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR) was established in July 1988 in response to rising concerns about local level internationalization in Japan.