It's all about doing the right thing

Yesterday in the middle of typing an email to my sister the doorbell rang. My older neighbour was sweeping my gutters. She admonished me for not sweeping under the concrete blocks that line our gutters and enable a smooth ride in the car in and out - you can see them in the photo. I'd thought the blocks were pretty heavy (and, as I later discovered, they are), but she flicked them out to reveal my disgrace - cakes of mud. Shame on me. So, email forgotten, I got to work. I ended up using a spade to 'flick' the blocks out. I guess it is the Australian in me that wonders what is under something and makes me reluctant to put my hand there! I swept up a lot of mud and put it in a plastic bag to be put out in "unburnable rubbish" later in the week.

Later when I was considering making dinner the doorbell rang again. This time my husband was home. He found our other neighbour at the door. She handed him a broom and a bag containing disinfectant. Apparently it is our turn to clean the local rubbish collection station (where everyone puts their rubbish - no wheelie bins here). For a fortnight we get to check that the truck has taken everything away, pick up anything remiss and, presumably, disinfect the lid of the bin (similar to an industrial bin in Australia but a bit smaller). Thankfully, unlike the road gutters, we are only required to do this once a year.

Japan - the land where people take pride in appearances, where people are diligent in holding up their end of the stick, where people are shamed into doing their civic duty by their neighbours.