The mayor of this Saitama town is angry...


...and the reason is spelled "garbage":

In Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, more than 500 tons of garbage are dumped illegally every year. Common items unlawfully discarded include home appliances such as televisions and microwave ovens as well as futon. The city spends as much as 50 million yen a year to collect and properly dispose of such items. In other words, citizens are picking up the tab for environmental offenses in the form of taxes.

Good point. You and I are the ones who pay for the sloppy dumping of garbage through our taxes. It means less tax yen to more important things like public hospitals, schools and other services. I'm glad the mayor got angry. Indeed, do read Japan has a garbage problem. Everyone needs to participate or the bill will continue to increase - for everyone.

Related links:
The discussion between Japanese mountaineer Ken Noguchi and American marine ecologist Jack Moyer: NTT Cross Talking about garbage on Mt Everest and Mt Fuji.

Want to get involved? Join Fujisan Club, the local NGO that is now actively working to clean up Mt Fuji.

The Sacred Land website has a great article about why Mt Fuji didn't get UNESCO World Heritage status.

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