Clean Sweep: Why Japanese fans are cleaning stadiums at the 2022 FIFA World Cup

The final whistle blew out loud on Sunday, and moments after wallowing over their loss to Costa Rica, the fans of Japan pulled out their blue trash bags and began meticulously cleaning the stands at Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Qatar, picking up the garbage scattered across the rows of seats around them.

It didn’t matter what the trash was — orange peels to empty plastic bottles or even dirty napkins — nor did it matter who had thrown it. The Blue Samurais, as the fans of the Japanese national team are called, went through each aisle picking up the litter and then handing it over to the stadium workers on their way out.

The simple act of picking up garbage after each match — irrespective of the results — has earned the Blue Samurais a lot of love and praise from across the world.

In victory or defeat, there is always respect.

Thank you for helping to #SaveThePlanet, Japan fans! pic.twitter.com/FBWpOvtog2

— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) November 27, 2022

The act of cleaning up isn’t only for the fans. The Japanese national squad also follows the same principle and their locker room is a prime example. After pulling off a stunning victory against Germany last week, images of a spotless locker room emerged. The towels were left neatly folded up, no sweaty clothes could be seen hanging on hangers and the water bottles appeared as if they were untouched. There were also origami paper cranes — 11 to represent each player on the team — and a message that read “thank you” in Japanese and Arabic.

After an historic victory against Germany at the #FIFAWorldCup on Match Day 4, Japan fans cleaned up their rubbish in the stadium, whilst the @jfa_samuraiblue left their changing room at Khalifa International Stadium like this. Spotless.

Domo Arigato.