Where to throw away trash in Kyoto
494 disposal points in Kyoto are on the map. 57 of them have been checked on the ground in the last 18 months — the most recent on 2026-09-12. Those are the ones this page lists first.
A point counts only with a survey date.
A pin with no sentence saying where it is cannot be found on the ground.
No purchase, no ticket.
Bottles and cans only, or customers only.
The newest date anyone recorded here.
The points worth walking to
Checked points first. Tap one to open it on the map with walking directions.
Stations with the most points nearby
| Torokko Arashiyama Station | 32 |
| Arashiyama Station | 27 |
| Higashi-muko Station | 22 |
| Toji Station | 16 |
| Ryukokudai-mae-Fukakusa Station | 15 |
| Nishi-muko Station | 11 |
| Nijojo-mae Station | 11 |
| Omuro-Ninnaji Station | 10 |
What the bins here accept
| General | 369 |
| Pet Bottle | 132 |
| Can | 131 |
| Glass | 112 |
| Other | 104 |
Kyoto, specifically
Kyoto has the strictest street manners of the big three and fewer bins than Tokyo or Osaka. The reliable ones are inside Kyoto Station, at convenience stores, and near the entrances of the big sightseeing areas; on this map Arashiyama has the most points on record in the prefecture. Temples, shrines and the Gion streets have none and expect you to carry everything out. Nishiki Market has asked visitors since 2019 not to eat while walking: eat in front of the shop and return the skewer or cup to that shop's bin. On record for the prefecture: 494 usable bins, 57 checked.
Street smoking in the city centre is banned under a city ordinance with a 1,000 yen fine; the designated smoking areas near Kyoto Station and Shijo Kawaramachi are on the map under the Smoking chip.
How disposal actually works in Japan
Public bins are rare, and that is deliberate: most 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 are the easy case — there is almost always a recycling box beside a vending machine, and it takes bottles and cans only. A coffee cup or a wrapper does not go in it. For those, a convenience store where you buy something, a station platform, or your own hotel is the realistic answer. Carrying your trash for a few hours is normal here, not a failure.
Questions people actually ask
- How many trash cans are there in Kyoto?
- 494 that a visitor can use are on record, and 57 of them have been checked on the ground in the last 18 months. We show what is on record rather than what we guess is there — we would rather show you four you can trust than forty you cannot.
- 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.
- What do I do if the bin is gone?
- Tell us — one tap on the spot screen — and it drops down the ranking for everyone else. Then take the next checked point on the list; the app shows it with the walking time.
- Are there trash cans in Kyoto?
- Fewer than anywhere else on a typical itinerary, and none at temples, shrines or on the Gion streets. The dependable ones are inside Kyoto Station, at convenience stores, and near the entrances of the main sightseeing districts; this map holds 494 usable public bins on record across Kyoto prefecture, 57 of them checked on the ground, with Arashiyama the densest cluster. Carry a bag and empty it at the station.
- Can I eat while walking in Nishiki Market?
- The market association asks visitors not to, and has since 2019. Buy, eat in front of the shop, and hand the skewer, cup or tray back to that shop, which keeps a bin for its own customers. The same applies on the approach streets to Kiyomizu-dera and in Gion: eat where you buy, carry nothing on, drop nothing. It is the single most appreciated thing a visitor can do in Kyoto.
- Can I smoke on the street in Kyoto?
- Not in the city centre. Kyoto City's ordinance bans smoking on the streets of the central wards, with a 1,000 yen fine, and the number of designated smoking areas is small: near Kyoto Station, around Shijo Kawaramachi and at a few tourist sites. Tap the Smoking chip on the map for the nearest one with walking time, and carry a portable ashtray for the butt.
Open Kyoto on the map
Nearest first, with who is allowed to use each one, what it takes, and how recently anybody confirmed it was still there.
Open the map here