Every question, in one place.

About trash cans in Japan

How many public trash cans are there in Japan?

On record, 4,443 that a visitor can actually use, across all 47 prefectures. That is after removing 2,746 household collection points that OpenStreetMap also tags as bins but which belong to the residents of that street. For scale, the same data holds 33,677 public toilets and 8,565 water points — roughly 7.6 toilets for every usable bin.

Why are there so few trash cans in Japan?

Most public bins were removed from stations and streets after 1995 and never came back. What replaced them is a set of habits rather than infrastructure: bottles and cans go in the recycling box beside a vending machine (and only those), everything else goes to a convenience store where you buy something, a station, or your hotel. Carrying your rubbish for a few hours is normal, not a failure.

Can I trust the bins shown on a map of Japan?

Only the checked ones. Of the 4,443 usable points on record, 537 have been confirmed on the ground within 18 months and 3,005 have any survey at all — which means 1,438 (32%) have never been looked at by anyone. This site ranks a checked bin ten minutes away above an unchecked one a minute away, and never presents a guess as a fact.

How many trash cans does Tokyo have?

662 that a visitor can use, on record, of which 131 have been checked on the ground in the last 18 months. Tokyo also has the country's densest network of vending-machine recycling boxes, which take bottles and cans only.

Can I use a convenience-store bin without buying anything?

Officially no — those bins are for customers, and many stores moved them inside for exactly that reason. Buy a drink and it is uncontroversial.

Where can I throw away trash in Japan if there is no bin?

The realistic options, in order: the recycling box beside a vending machine (bottles and cans only), a convenience store where you buy something, the platform or concourse of a train station, and your own hotel. The one thing to avoid is the sorted collection point on a residential street corner — that belongs to the households on that street.

Is it rude to carry your trash around in Japan?

No — it is what everyone does. Carrying your rubbish for a few hours and dropping it at a convenience store where you buy something, at the station, or back at the hotel is normal behaviour, not a failure. What is frowned on is leaving it somewhere that is not a bin, including a residential collection point.

Are there trash cans in Japanese train stations?

Often, and they are the most reliable public bins in the country: this site has pages for 108 stations with disposal points nearby, ranked by how many have been checked. Bins on platforms and concourses usually take bottles, cans and general waste separately. The station page shows walking time from the exits.

Can I throw away food waste in a public bin in Japan?

Almost never. Of the 4,443 usable bins on record, only 5 say they accept food waste; 3,849 take general waste, 1,480 take cans and 1,465 take PET bottles. Finish it, or wrap it and carry it to a convenience store or your hotel.

Where can I refill a water bottle in Japan?

The map holds 8,565 water points — fountains and refill taps in parks, stations and public buildings. Switch the category from bins to water in the app and the nearest ones appear with walking time. Tap water in Japan is safe to drink everywhere.

Where can I smoke in Japan?

Only in designated smoking areas — smoking on the street is banned in most city centres and fined. The map holds 1,030 smoking areas; switch the category in the app to see the nearest. Ashtrays outside convenience stores were largely removed with the 2020 rules.

Does the trash can map work offline?

Yes. Once you have opened it, the app and the data for the areas you looked at stay on the phone, and anything you report while offline is kept on the phone and marked as not sent yet until you are back online. No account, no sign-in, nothing about you leaves your phone.

What languages does the trash can map support?

Eight, chosen from the language button at the top of the map. The point data itself is the same in every language — names come from OpenStreetMap and are shown in the local script with a romanised fallback.

Is the data on this site free to reuse?

Yes. The point data is © OpenStreetMap contributors under ODbL 1.0: reuse it, credit OSM, and share a derived database alike. Take the JSON files rather than crawling the pages — the whole dataset is offered at /data/index.json and per prefecture at /data/pref/.json.

Can I throw trash in a convenience store bin in Japan?

Only for what you bought there. Those bins exist for the shop's own customers, and carrying rubbish in from outside is treated as illegal dumping, which is why chains are pulling their bins indoors. Buy a drink and using the bin is uncontroversial. This site never sends anyone to a convenience store bin to dispose of something they did not buy there.

Can I use the recycling box next to a vending machine for any trash?

No. The box beside a vending machine is put there by the beverage operator for its own containers, and it takes bottles and cans only. A coffee cup, a wrapper or food waste does not go in it. For those, the realistic options are a convenience store where you buy something, a station platform or concourse, or your hotel.

Can I use the trash collection point on a residential street?

No. The sorted collection points you see on residential street corners in the morning belong to the households on that street. They are only out on collection mornings, and a visitor using one is fly-tipping. That is why they are not on this map: 2,746 records that OpenStreetMap tags as bins were removed from every count because they are household collection points.

Which Japanese prefecture has the most public bins?

Tokyo, with 662 usable bins on record and 131 of them checked on the ground within 18 months. A raw count says little on its own: a prefecture can hold many points from a bulk import and no survey dates at all. That is why this site ranks prefectures by how many points somebody has confirmed, never by how many exist.

How many public toilets are there in Japan?

33,677 public toilets are on record in the same OpenStreetMap data this site uses, against 4,443 usable trash cans, which is about 7.6 toilets for every bin a visitor can use. The same data holds 8,565 water points and 1,030 smoking areas. Japan did not forget public infrastructure; it removed one kind of it.

Is the number of trash cans in Japan increasing?

Nothing on this site suggests it is. Most public bins were removed from stations and streets after 1995 and never came back, and removals have continued: Tokyo Metro and Toei took the bins out of every one of their stations in 2022, and ashtrays outside convenience stores largely went with the 2020 smoking rules. The number this map tries to grow is not how many bins exist but how many of the 4,443 on record somebody has actually checked, 537 so far.

How do I know if a trash can is still there?

Look at the badge and the date on the point. A bin counts as checked only when somebody stood in front of it within the last 18 months and wrote down the date; an older survey shows as likely, and a point with no survey at all is unverified. Of 4,443 usable bins on record, 537 are checked. When you arrive, the app asks whether the bin was there, and a no drops that point for everyone else.

Do I need an account to use Trash Finder?

No. There is no account, no sign-in and no profile. The map opens in the browser with nothing to install, and it works on hotel wifi. Your location is used by your browser to centre the map and is never sent to us, and your answers about whether a bin was there are stored on your own device. Because there is no account, your contributions are counted on this phone only, so clearing the app starts over.

Are there bins on the platform in Japan?

Often, and they are the most reliable public bins in the country. Bins on platforms and concourses usually take bottles, cans and general waste separately, and the recycling boxes beside the platform vending machines take bottles and cans only. Not every operator keeps them: Tokyo Metro and Toei removed the bins from every one of their stations in 2022. This site has pages for 108 stations with disposal points nearby, ranked by how many have been checked.

How do I sort trash in Japan?

In public the split is simple: bottles and cans go in the recycling box beside a vending machine, and everything else is general waste for a convenience store, station or hotel bin. Where a public bin separates streams, it is usually bottles, cans and general waste. Of the 4,443 usable bins on record, 3,849 take general waste, 1,480 take cans, 1,465 take PET bottles and only 5 accept food waste. Each spot lists what it accepts.

Where do I throw away a PET bottle in Japan?

This is the easy case. Almost every vending machine has a recycling box beside it, put there by the beverage operator, and it takes bottles and cans, those and nothing else. Station platforms have the same boxes beside their vending machines. On this map, 1,465 of the 4,443 usable bins on record say they take PET bottles, and every prefecture page lists what its bins accept.

Where do I throw away a coffee cup in Japan?

A coffee cup is the hard case. It does not go in the recycling box beside a vending machine, which takes bottles and cans only. The realistic options, in order, are a convenience store where you buy something, the platform or concourse of a train station, and your own hotel. Carrying the cup for a few hours is normal here, not a failure. The map ranks a checked bin ten minutes away above an unchecked one a minute away for exactly this moment.

Where are public toilets in Japan?

The map holds 33,677 public toilets, taken from the same OpenStreetMap data as the bins and shown with walking time. Switch the category from trash to toilet in the app, or use Find a toilet near me, and the nearest ones appear. They matter for another reason too: a public toilet almost always has a bin inside, so when no checked trash can is close the app points you to the nearest toilet instead.

How can I add a trash can to the map?

Open the map, tap Add a point, and answer three short questions: what can go in it, who may use it, and where exactly it is, such as the exit, the floor and what is next to it. A photo helps most. It takes about fifteen seconds and needs no account. The point shows on your phone at once and reaches the public map once a human has reviewed it, usually within a day, staying unverified until another traveller confirms it. Photos are CC BY-SA 4.0 with location metadata stripped.

How do I report that a bin is gone?

Two ways, both one tap. When you tap Navigate and come back, the app asks whether the bin was there; answering no drops that point down the ranking for everyone else. On any spot screen, Report an issue also offers The bin is gone, alongside wrong place, full and access problems. Then take the next checked point on the list; the app shows it with the walking time. No account is needed and nothing that identifies you is sent.

Where does the trash can data come from?

OpenStreetMap. All 4,443 usable points were harvested through the Overpass API and rebuilt on 2026-09-12, and every point keeps its OSM id so any claim can be opened, audited and corrected at the source. The data is copyright OpenStreetMap contributors under ODbL 1.0. On top of that come ground checks by travellers in the app and installations announced by the operators themselves. Municipal collection-point datasets and other community bin maps are deliberately not included.

What does burnable and non-burnable mean in Japan?

They are the two basic household sorting categories, and the split is set by each municipality, so it differs from city to city. Burnable (moeru gomi) usually means paper, food waste and, in many cities, plastics; non-burnable (moenai gomi) covers metal, glass, ceramics and small appliances, with bottles, cans and PET bottles collected separately. Those categories apply to household collection, which visitors cannot use. Public bins on this map are labelled by what they accept instead, typically general waste, cans, PET bottles or paper.

Can I throw trash on the Shinkansen?

Yes. Shinkansen cars have waste bins in the vestibule at the end of each car, usually one slot for paper and general waste and one for bottles and cans, and they are emptied at the terminal. Larger stations also keep bins on the Shinkansen platforms and concourses inside the ticket gates. Use them before you leave the station: once you are on the street, the next checked public bin may be a walk away, which is what this map is for.

Are Japanese public toilets free?

Yes. Public toilets in parks, stations, department stores and convenience stores are free to use; the only cost is that toilets inside station ticket gates need a ticket or IC card to reach them. They are also clean and common, which is why the app falls back to the nearest toilet when no checked trash can is close: a public toilet almost always has a bin inside. The map holds 33,677 of them.

Are there trash cans at Shinjuku Station?

On record, yes: 2 disposal points around Shinjuku Station carry a survey, 0 of them checked on the ground within 18 months, with the most recent survey dated 2024-03-01. Each point on the station page lists what it accepts, who may use it, and the walking time from the station. Inside a station, whether a bin is inside or outside the ticket gates matters more than distance, so the station page leads with that.