{"id":17755,"date":"2026-08-09T12:17:45","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T19:17:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=17755"},"modified":"2026-08-09T12:19:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T19:19:35","slug":"debitos-sna-vm-column-77-big-garbage-day-and-the-purge-a-light-relaxed-summer-slice-of-life-in-japan-essay-on-how-long-term-lifestyles-for-nj-residents-are-doomed-aug-9-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=17755","title":{"rendered":"Debito&#8217;s SNA VM column 77:\u00a0 \u201cBig Garbage Day and The Purge&#8221;, a light, relaxed summer slice-of-life in Japan essay on how long-term lifestyles for NJ Residents are doomed (Aug 9, 2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Books, eBooks, and more from Debito Arudou, Ph.D. (click on icon):<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/handbook.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11452\" title=\"Guidebookcover.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Guidebookcover.jpg\" alt=\"Guidebookcover.jpg\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/japaneseonly.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11335\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/japaneseonlyebookcovertext-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"japaneseonlyebookcovertext\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/handbook.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1298\" title=\"Handbook2ndEdcover.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Handbook2ndEdcover.jpg\" alt=\"Handbook for Newcomers, Migrants, and Immigrants to Japan\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/inappropriate.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8577\" title=\"inappropriatecoverthumb150x226\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/inappropriatecoverthumb150x226.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/japaneseonly.html#japanese\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1700\" title=\"jobookcover\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/jobookcover-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\u300c\u30b8\u30e3\u30d1\u30cb\u30fc\u30ba\u30fb\u30aa\u30f3\u30ea\u30fc\u3000\u5c0f\u6a3d\u5165\u6d74\u62d2\u5426\u554f\u984c\u3068\u4eba\u7a2e\u5dee\u5225\u300d\uff08\u660e\u77f3\u66f8\u5e97\uff09\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cinemabstruso.de\/strawberries\/main.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2735\" title=\"sourstrawberriesavatar\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/sourstrawberriesavatar.jpg\" alt=\"sourstrawberriesavatar\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?cat=32\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4921\" title=\"debitopodcastthumb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/debitopodcastthumb.jpg\" alt=\"debitopodcastthumb\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=12473\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-12474\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/FodorsJapan2014cover-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"FodorsJapan2014cover\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nUPDATES ON TWITTER: arudoudebito<br \/>\nDEBITO.ORG PODCASTS on iTunes, subscribe free<br \/>\n&#8220;LIKE&#8221; US on Facebook at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/debitoorg\">http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/debitoorg<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embeddedrcsmJapan\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embeddedrcsmJapan<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/handbookimmigrants\">http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/handbookimmigrants<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JapaneseOnlyTheBook\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JapaneseOnlyTheBook<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BookInAppropriate\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BookInAppropriate<\/a><br \/>\nIf you like what you read and discuss on Debito.org, please consider helping us stop hackers and defray maintenance costs with a little donation via my webhoster:<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dreamhost.com\/donate.cgi?id=17701\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/secure.newdream.net\/donate4.gif\" alt=\"Donate towards my web hosting bill!\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<i>All donations go towards website costs only. Thanks for your support!<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Hi Blog. \u00a0I felt like writing a throwback essay this month. Like I used to before things got serious. \u00a0It&#8217;s a work of fiction, and all characters are fictitious composites. \u00a0Enjoy. \u00a0Debito Arudou, Ph.D.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-09-at-12.03.46-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-17756\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-09-at-12.03.46-PM.png\" alt=\"Decorative image showing a Gomi Station with the essay's Holy Grail\" width=\"789\" height=\"445\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-09-at-12.03.46-PM.png 789w, https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-09-at-12.03.46-PM-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-09-at-12.03.46-PM-768x433.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 789px) 100vw, 789px\" \/><\/a><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>SNA VM 77:\u00a0 \u201cBig Garbage Day\u201d and The Purge<\/strong><\/h3>\n<h4 style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>By Debito Arudou. \u00a0Shingetsu News Agency, August 9, 2026<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/shingetsunewsagency.com\/2026\/08\/09\/visible-minorities-big-garbage-day-and-the-purge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Courtesy https:\/\/shingetsunewsagency.com\/2026\/08\/09\/visible-minorities-big-garbage-day-and-the-purge\/<\/a><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><u>Subtitle:<\/u> \u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s summertime, and the writing is easy\u2026\u00a0 \u00a0This month Debito feels more like writing in the voice of \u201cDave Aldwinckle of Sapporo\u201d (his persona before \u201cThe Debito\u201d took over in the early 2000s), telling a story about life in Japan in general.\u00a0 If you want more essays in this relaxed vein, go to Debito.org\u2019s archive at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/residentspage.html\">https:\/\/www.debito.org\/residentspage.html<\/a><\/h4>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">* * * * *<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>\u201cDave!\u00a0 Dave!\u00a0 Get over here!\u00a0 I\u2019ve found it!\u00a0 The Holy Grail of \u2018Big Garbage Day\u2019!\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>It was Joe ringing Dave\u2019s keitai first thing in the morning.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t the first time.\u00a0 It was that regular time of the year in certain parts of Japan that for some foreign residents was better than Christmas:\u00a0 <\/em>Sodai Gomi no Hi<em>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>That day was quite a celebration during Japan\u2019s Bubble Era of the late 1980s-early 1990s.\u00a0 Anyone could find incredible Sodai Gomi, or \u201cbig garbage,\u201d at the local neighborhood Gomi Station.\u00a0 Things like slightly-used stereos, TVs, consumer electronics, kitchen goods, sofas and chairs, wall hangings, light fixtures, even tatami mats.\u00a0 Back then, Japanese had enough disposable income to replace some items every year or so, and they didn\u2019t have the need (or the space) to keep the old.\u00a0 Since there was still a general aversion to buying used goods, there wasn\u2019t much of a market to sell it off.\u00a0\u00a0 So out on the corner it went.\u00a0\u00a0 Somehow the government made it disappear, for Sodai Gomi no Hi was basically \u201cThe Purge\u201d for unwanted junk.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>Nowadays, of course, it\u2019s different.\u00a0 Incomes have decreased, second-hand shops have proliferated, and some governments prefer you haul big junk to a centralized disposal area.\u00a0 So for most dumpster divers, it\u2019s slim pickins.\u00a0 But in some parts of Japan, veterans like Joe prowled on the designated days and occasionally hit the jackpot.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>Today was one of those occasions.\u00a0 \u201c\u2014Dave!\u00a0 Are you awake yet?\u00a0 I need a favor.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>\u201cFirst, Joe, what are you rattling on about?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>\u201cThe Holy Grail.\u00a0 An almost-new SONY LCD TV.\u00a0 But it\u2019s too big for me to haul.\u00a0 And it needs cables to plug in to the wall and connect to the internet.\u00a0 I need you to go to Rolf\u2019s and get them for me.\u00a0 I\u2019ll text you what I need.\u00a0 I have to stand guard here so nobody else takes it.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>\u201cRolf\u2019s? \u00a0Are you sure he has\u2014\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>\u201cRolf is a dumpster diver like me.\u00a0 Get over there and I\u2019ll get you both a case of beer.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>* * * * *<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>Ah, Rolf.\u00a0 A longtime professor of something, Rolf had came to Japan in the early 1990s on a Culture Visa to study Martial Arts and eventually befriended a university professor who became his employment sugar daddy.\u00a0 The latter\u2019s far-afield private college wanted the prestige of a real German on the faculty roster.\u00a0 Decades later, Rolf, now a sexagenarian, had learned the song-and-dance of survival in an aging Japan.\u00a0 Thanks to a lot of beer parties and cobwebby faculty meetings, he was fluent enough to appeal to in the elderly language of hopeful sloganeering, unrequited need, and general resignation.\u00a0 Now beyond his mandatory retirement age, he had joined the ranks of rural Japanese and their tenuous life on the edges of Japanese society.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>Still, all things considered, Rolf had done well.\u00a0 He had acquired an entire exurban house that was itself a bit of a dumpster dive.\u00a0 The previous owner had been a little old widow who died in her bathtub, giving the place bad juju.\u00a0 \u201cSuperstitious nonsense,\u201d said Rolf, a proudly rational German, who contentedly bought the place for a song.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>Over the years he had converted his widow mansion to his little slice of home-away-from-home, filling his kitchen with bread, beer, and sausage, and converting his compact outside yard from a mausoleum of weeds into a multi-roomed greenhouse.\u00a0 \u00a0He had jerry-rigged it out of transparent plastic and lashed-together poles from the local laundry-pole vendor, who had also retired and sold his vending truck to Rolf for yet another song.\u00a0 Years of unsold laundry poles were thrown in for free.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>Seeing Dave arrive at his abode through the thick plastic exterior, Rolf pulled open his makeshift greenhouse door with a perfunctory greeting and offered a curt, \u201cMoment, please.\u201d\u00a0 He was furrowing his brow over a matter of great urgency.\u00a0 \u201cI am watering the vegetables now.\u00a0 They look too thirsty.\u00a0 Tomatoes and carrots are so expensive in this country.\u00a0 Go say hi to Ingeborg.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>\u201cHi Dave!\u201d she waved from a separate interior room of sorts.\u00a0 Ingeborg was Rolf\u2019s southern-German partner of convenience who was easily twenty years his junior and just starting to lose her bloom.\u00a0 Today she was braless.\u00a0 After all, it was late summer and that\u2019s how she had always celebrated the heat\u2014in as few layers as possible.\u00a0 It was her greenhouse, and nobody would tell her what to do in her own space.\u00a0 Nobody did, anyway.\u00a0 Neighbors would call by to say hello, admire the view, and make their silent mental comparisons of how Europeans are so exotic.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>\u201cHi Ingeborg.\u00a0 Whatcha up to?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>\u201cOnions.\u00a0 They\u2019re very good this year!\u201d\u00a0 She had already carefully excavated and laid them out on two ancient <\/em>zabuton <em>that gave the appearance of an overloaded domino.\u00a0 \u201cWhat brings you here today?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>\u201cOh, I\u2019m here to raid Rolf\u2019s computer cable collection.\u00a0 I remember he\u2019s the type that never throws that stuff away, even if the electronics obsolesce or die.\u00a0 You know where he keeps them?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>She laughed and rolled her eyes.\u00a0 \u201cOh Rolf, yes, you know him well.\u00a0 He puts them somewhere in a closet all tied up like spaghetti.\u00a0 I can\u2019t help you.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know his system.\u00a0 Wait here with me if it\u2019s not too hot.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>It was, but Dave didn\u2019t mind standing by and enjoying the neighbors\u2019 view either.\u00a0 Ingeborg had come to Japan on a lark during the anime wave around twenty years ago and liked it enough to stay on.\u00a0 But since Japanese men too were afraid to approach her, she found it difficult to put down roots.\u00a0 Luckily, she and Rolf had crossed paths through a German community which made it clear he was available.\u00a0 Rolf had been through a couple of Japanese marriages himself, but they soon faded once the Gaijin Groupies realized they had married a person, not a concept.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>What brought Rolf and Ingeborg together beyond random circumstance was one important thing in common:\u00a0Loneliness for a common language.\u00a0 He needed someone who didn\u2019t just question or tolerate his rationality day-in, day-out. \u00a0She needed a man she could talk to without effort or games, but also needed a visa.\u00a0 Rolf had Permanent Residency and so the dominoes fell into place.\u00a0 They married and stayed on in Japan, lashed together like sturdy laundry poles, supporting and incubating a customizably comfortable lifestyle.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>\u201cEnough heat in here for you?\u201d barged in Rolf with a smile.\u00a0 Startled out of his reverie, Dave said, \u201cYeah, uh, hi Rolf.\u00a0 I\u2019m here on a mission, actually.\u00a0 Joe wants some TV cables from your stash.\u00a0 He\u2019s texted me exactly what he\u2019s looking for.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>\u201cBorrow me your phone,\u201d Rolf said without ado, and went off to fulfill the request.\u00a0 Ingeborg tenuously offered Dave a beer from a cooler, but he begged off.\u00a0 \u201cI have to drive soon, and you know how Japan is zero-tolerance about any alcohol in the bloodstream.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>\u201cYes, I understand,\u201d laughed Ingeborg.\u00a0 \u201cCan\u2019t help you again.\u00a0 You know we Germans never keep non-alcohol beer in the house.\u00a0 What\u2019s the point of it?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>Rolf soon came by and handed over the cables in a long-bankrupt department store bag.\u00a0 \u201cWhat for he needs this?\u00a0 Has Joe found more treasure today?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>\u201cHe always does.\u00a0 Both of you are collectors of junk, but you know the saying about \u2018another man\u2019s treasure,\u2019 yes?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>Rolf scoffed.\u00a0 \u201cOf course I do.\u00a0 English is such an easy language.\u00a0 It\u2019s just German from another mother.\u00a0 Japanese, on the other hand, is a lifetime of learning.\u00a0 At least the verbs come at the end.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>Rolf then beckoned Dave behind the corner of the house and to his long-abandoned neighboring house.\u00a0 In its driveway was parked the mostly-disused laundry-pole truck.\u00a0 The keys were still in the ignition, and Rolf reached in and tentatively turned the engine over.\u00a0 Success.\u00a0 Good old trustworthy Japanese cars.\u00a0 The windshield wipers came on and etched away accumulated detritus, and Dave smacked the cushions on the front seat to see how grimy this trip would get him.\u00a0 A surfeit of dust coated his hand.\u00a0 He would be driving with the windows down.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>Dave then noticed the white megaphone speaker above the driver\u2019s cab\u2014the laundry-pole guy\u2019s way of broadcasting his wares in song and message.\u00a0 \u201cThis still work?\u201d asked Dave, picking up the microphone and keying it.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>\u201cYes,\u201d said Rolf.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe you will sell something today.\u00a0 You have plenty of rust and dust in the back.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>\u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s in short supply out here,\u201d he laughed back.\u00a0 Dave squeezed into the truck, bidding Rolf and Ingeborg farewell via the loudspeaker as he gingerly backed out and headed for Joe\u2019s.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>* * * * *<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>An hour later, Dave had driven three towns over to Joe\u2019s suburban neighborhood. \u00a0A few blocks away from his apartment, Joe was soon spotted seated in an outdoor chair by a Gomi Station, warily eyeing curious passersby who actually had more interest in him than the TV.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>Ah, Joe. \u00a0\u00a0He was also of Rolf\u2019s generation, another educator who came over during the mid-Eighties to teach Eikaiwaand found his way into the university system by dint of a master\u2019s degree in somesuch from an American university, but mainly the birthright of English fluency.\u00a0 A passionate relationship produced a Spousal Visa, keeping him from being too dependent on an employer for his lifestyle.\u00a0 But once Joe got Permanent Residency, he got comfortable enough in Japanese society to address his lothario itch.\u00a0 After all, he surmised, sleeping around in Japan is a national sport, what all his generation of Japanese men did, and once his wife had kids she didn\u2019t much need a husband around anyway.\u00a0 So Joe contented himself with hobbies and womanizing while they drifted apart.\u00a0 Decades later, one fear he was no longer saddled with was his ex-wife\u2019s wrath at him spending all morning at a Gomi Station, capped off by bringing more junk home.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>Dave announced his presence from the truck loudspeaker and Joe came galloping up.\u00a0 \u201cLook at this amazing find!\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>It was indeed amazing.\u00a0 Carefully repacked into its original box was a SONY Bravia 9 85-inch Mini LED 4K LCD TV that was barely a year old.\u00a0 It was worth thousands of US dollars.\u00a0 Why it hadn\u2019t been taken back to the store or resold on the used market was a mystery.\u00a0 Perhaps the previous owner had bought it on a whim but suddenly died, and the family was summarily clearing house.\u00a0 Maybe some scions of the political or criminal world had offered it as tribute, so the stank of a bribe got it politely dumped with no questions asked.\u00a0 Or maybe it was a legacy of the twice-annual ochugen\/osebo eras of yore, when people had more money than sense and gave lavish (but not necessarily wanted) gifts to superiors to maintain relationships and curry future favors.\u00a0 Whatever the reason, this orphaned and perhaps even unused TV was now going downmarket into Joe\u2019s life.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>\u201cThanks for bringing the truck.\u00a0 Give me a hand loading it!\u201d\u00a0 Dave lifted a corner of the box and realized how surprisingly light it all was.\u00a0 This is true of most Japanese consumer electronics, designed light in case it falls on you during an earthquake.\u00a0 Nevertheless it was expansive and bulky, as is the entire point of a wide-screen TV.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>Joe jumped on the back of the truck and slid the box abreast of the truck bay wall.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t brought bungee cords, so he said he would sit in the back clutching the laundry pole racks and steadying the TV.\u00a0 Dave was to carefully drive the back roads to Joe\u2019s apartment, even if that was going to annoy his GPS that was especially nagging in a Japanese voice.\u00a0 Hopefully they wouldn\u2019t run into any cops, because in no way was having him ride back there legal.\u00a0 But Joe was willing to take the risk for both of them, of course.\u00a0 He was used to being looked at anyway, and he cheerily waved at giggling onlookers and passersby as if this was just the next big caper of the day on Planet Japan for Joe Gaijin.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>* * * * *<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>They reached the final stage of the quest.\u00a0 After schlepping the box up a few flights of stairs to Joe\u2019s bachelor pad, they contorted themselves into propping open the front door, sloughing their shoes in the tight genkan, and threading the box through the afterthought-passageway that passes for a kitchen in Japan\u2019s 1DK apartments. \u00a0In his 4.5-jo tatami room, Joe shucked the box, kicked aside his clothes and futon to make space, and plonked the TV down while he looked for one of those rare Japanese room electrical outlets.\u00a0 He performed triage on his long-overloaded extension cord power bar and disconnected his room lamp in the process.\u00a0 No worries.\u00a0 The TV would provide ambient light for now, even if it was only the fuzz of static.\u00a0 He then plugged in the TV cable, powered on, and began side-buttoning his way through the channels.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>On came NHK.\u00a0 News desu.\u00a0 The image was overwhelming.\u00a0 The announcer\u2019s face was already bigger than the kitchen sink and they were sitting but a few feet away.\u00a0 Events in Tokyo were suddenly larger than life.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>A supersized Prime Minister Takaichi was making the news for <a href=\"https:\/\/japantoday.com\/category\/national\/foreign-tourists-in-japan-eat-far-more-rice-than-previously-thought-according-to-new-data\">blaming foreigners for eating too much rice<\/a>, thereby raising prices for Japanese food supply.\u00a0 Even though, as Dave quietly knew, Takaichi herself had suspended former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.asahi.com\/ajw\/articles\/16168044\">PM Ishiba\u2019s program<\/a> to expand rice production for export, which would have expanded the supply and brought prices down for everyone.\u00a0 But Japan\u2019s rice market is not subject to market forces.\u00a0 It is a monopsony, where the government buys up all Japan-produced rice, sets the prices at the highest in the world, and hoards up a huge national stockpile.\u00a0\u00a0That stockpile was dwindling as farming families die out and fields lie fallow.\u00a0 But instead of allowing consumer demand to incentivize more rice growing, Takaichi was declaring a shortage and inflating rice prices.\u00a0 This was essentially a ruse to bribe rural areas to vote for her party by pulling levers in ways other political parties couldn\u2019t.\u00a0 The downside was foreigners were once again being used as cover for Japan\u2019s manipulative domestic politics.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>Joe was relatively unconcerned about all of this.\u00a0 All he cared about in the moment was that he had succeeded on his mission, even if the huge TV now blocked access his futon closet.\u00a0 He had an apartment to fill with stuff since he no longer had family, like so many other Japanese of his generation.\u00a0 And like them, he was living a life by his fingernails as his own retirement approached, when most people live the rest of their days off whatever they had accumulated during their working life.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>* * * * *<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>Unfortunately, Joe and Rolf would be the last generation of foreigners that could live like their Japanese neighbors.\u00a0 And here\u2019s where \u201cThe Debito\u201d will take back the keyboard from Dave in Sapporo:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>Takaichi\u2019s new \u201ccoexistence with foreigners\u201d policies will require future long-termers to live \u201cself-sufficiently,\u201d i.e., <a href=\"https:\/\/www.japantimes.co.jp\/news\/2026\/08\/04\/japan\/permanent-residency-requirements-income\/\">better than the average Japanese, with higher wages and pension payments, healthy and squeaky-clean lives, no bureaucratic snafus<\/a>.\u00a0 Even though, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.japantimes.co.jp\/news\/2026\/08\/04\/japan\/permanent-residency-requirements-income\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Japan Times<\/a>, 61.5% of Japanese households earn less than the average (as opposed to the median) annual income.\u00a0 So foreigners must do even better than that.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>In other words, visa rules are tightening to the point where foreign residents cannot create lives in Japan on their own terms, and are being given less leeway for learning the ropes of a complicated society and language through trial-and-error.\u00a0 Because any deviation from a lifestyle and a timetable set by the mandarins means foreigners get denied longer-term visas.\u00a0 Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.asahi.com\/ajw\/articles\/16786601\">Permanent Residency<\/a> is further out of reach than ever.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>So foreign residents, your new marching orders are these:\u00a0 Pay more than average into your pensions and taxes, and hope you can hang on long enough to get anything back.\u00a0 But the plan is to make it harder for foreigners to stay and reap the fruits of their investments.\u00a0 Because \u201cJapan First\u201d is for \u201cJapanese Only.\u201d\u00a0 And all that Rolf\u2019s and Joe\u2019s successors have painstakingly accumulated in Japan will likely be lost.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>In effect, Japan\u2019s foreign residents are Sodai Gomi personified.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ENDS<\/p>\n<p>======================<br \/>\n<em>Do you like what you read on Debito.org? \u00a0Want to help keep the archive active and support Debito.org&#8217;s activities? \u00a0Please consider donating a little something. \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13748\">More details here<\/a>. Or if you prefer something less complicated, just click on an advertisement below.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Intro:  \u201cDave!\u00a0 Dave!\u00a0 Get over here!\u00a0 I\u2019ve found it!\u00a0 The Holy Grail of \u2018Big Garbage Day\u2019!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was Joe ringing Dave\u2019s keitai first thing in the morning.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t the first time.\u00a0 It was that regular time of the year in certain parts of Japan that for some foreign residents was better than Christmas:\u00a0 Sodai Gomi no Hi.<\/p>\n<p>That day was quite a celebration during Japan\u2019s Bubble Era of the late 1980s-early 1990s.\u00a0 Anyone could find incredible Sodai Gomi, or \u201cbig garbage,\u201d at the local neighborhood Gomi Station.\u00a0 Things like slightly-used stereos, TVs, consumer electronics, kitchen goods, sofas and chairs, wall hangings, light fixtures, even tatami mats.\u00a0 Back then, Japanese had enough disposable income to replace some items every year or so, and they didn\u2019t have the need (or the space) to keep the old.\u00a0 Since there was still a general aversion to buying used goods, there wasn\u2019t much of a market to sell it off.\u00a0\u00a0 So out on the corner it went.\u00a0\u00a0 Somehow the government made it disappear, for Sodai Gomi no Hi was basically \u201cThe Purge\u201d for unwanted junk.<\/p>\n<p>Nowadays, of course, it\u2019s different.\u00a0 Incomes have decreased, second-hand shops have proliferated, and some governments prefer you haul big junk to a centralized disposal area.\u00a0 So for most dumpster divers, it\u2019s slim pickins.\u00a0 But in some parts of Japan, veterans like Joe prowled on the designated days and occasionally hit the jackpot.<\/p>\n<p>Today was one of those occasions.\u00a0 \u201c\u2014Dave!\u00a0 Are you awake yet?\u00a0 I need a favor.\u201d  And the quest continues from there&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,22,20,23,12,76,73,4,16,13,56,11,31,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academia","category-cultural-issue","category-history","category-humor","category-immigration-assimilation","category-important-statistics","category-japans-blame-game","category-japanese-government","category-labor-issues","category-media","category-nj-legacies","category-problematic-foreign-treatment","category-tangents","category-unsustainable-japanese-society"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17755"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17758,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17755\/revisions\/17758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}