In his Oct. 9 article, "The vanity in 'green' virtues," David Howell says roads and streets in Japan are spotless except for cigarette butts. As a longtime volunteer garbage collector in our neighborhood in a typical city of the Tohoku region, I cannot agree with him.
Usually my big three plastic bags are filled with candy wrappers, empty alcohol cans, soft drink bottles, other drink containers, weekly magazines, and sometimes diapers! If Japanese know public shame, they don't behave like it. We should be able to stroll barefoot in clean greenery along the riverbanks. I would like to live in a place like that in the future.
masayuki aihara