Japanese fans praised for stadium cleanup — but women back home aren't impressed

Japanese fans have drawn widespread admiration at the 2026 North America World Cup for tidying up stadiums after their team's matches — but back home, some women are pushing back, and their criticism has gone viral.

The BBC reported June 20 that while Japanese soccer supporters have been celebrated abroad for cleaning up after World Cup games, they are facing a backlash at home, with women in Japan calling out what they see as a glaring double standard.

Japanese supporters have been carrying blue garbage bags after matches to show respect for the players, the stadiums and everyone involved in the tournament. The blue bags appeared after Japan's group stage opener against the Netherlands on June 15 and again after their second match against Tunisia on June 20.

But the reaction at home has been more mixed. According to the BBC, an illustration circulating on X, formerly Twitter, went viral with the caption: "Do it at home, too."

The post depicted the same man in two scenes — picking up trash at a stadium, and then lounging on a sofa at home, scrolling on his phone next to a laundry basket while his wife washed dishes.

The BBC said the image pointed to the fact that Japanese men often do far less housework than women, and that the backlash was less about the stadium cleanup itself than about a perceived gender double standard in society.

According to the Japanese government, as of 2021, women in Japan spent an average of three hours and 24 minutes per day on household chores, while men spent just 51 minutes.

Amid the controversy, Japanese fans stayed behind after the Tunisia match — played at Estadio BBVA in Monterrey, Mexico, the venue for the World Cup's 1,000th game — and quietly collected trash from the stands.

One Japanese supporter told Reuters: "We are guests of Mexico, and I have been treated so well here — this is my way of showing gratitude."

Another fan said the practice was simply part of their culture. "We want to leave everything we use clean so the next person can use it comfortably," the supporter said.

Reuters described the Japanese practice of "gomi hiroi" — trash picking — as a distinctly Japanese cultural tradition emphasizing personal responsibility for shared spaces.

Meanwhile, local media reported that Samuel García, governor of Mexico's Nuevo León state, distributed 20,000 garbage bags ahead of the match at the request of Japanese fans.