Japan’s stunning victory over Germany, in the group stages of the FIFA Qatar World Cup 2022, left their football fans in a state of joyous disbelief and got the rest of the world firmly behind them.
But it’s their supporters who are earning praise in Qatar for their off-pitch tradition that appears to be uniquely Japanese: Cleaning up stadiums after other football fans have left. In what was becoming an increasingly common sight, Japanese fans stayed behind after their team’s win and helped to clean up the Khalifa International Stadium.
As soon as the stadium started to empty, the Samurai Blue supporters were 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. Further still, Japan’s players also clean-up their changing rooms before leaving the stadium.
“What you think is special is actually nothing unusual for us,” one Japanese fan said. “When we use the toilet, we clean it ourselves. When we leave a room, we make sure it’s tidy. That’s the custom,” the fan went on.
“We can’t leave a place without making it clean”, said another. “It’s a part of our education, everyday learning.”
A tradition of theirs - to staying behind to help clean stadiums after games - social media posts featuring Japanese football fans with rubbish bags started to do the rounds in the days following the opening game of the tournament, between Qatar and Ecuador at Al Bayt Stadium and their fans were – and still are - earning respect from other countries in and out of the World Cup.
Further, after Japan pulled off their stunning 2-1 comeback win against the 2014 World Cup champions, and in typically classy fashion, the players and staff then left their dressing room spotless, it in dazzling condition in a show of respect which speaks volumes about their humility.
FIFA highlighted Japan's fans, players and staff in a post on their Twitter account, which read: "After an historic victory against Germany at the #FIFAWorldCup on Match Day 4, Japan fans cleaned up their rubbish in the stadium, whilst the Samurai Blue left their changing room at Khalifa International Stadium like this. Spotless.
“Domo Arigato (Thank you)."
