Japan’s Shibuya to fine litterbugs on the spot from June as visitor numbers surge

Tokyo’s Shibuya ward – home to the famous scramble crossing and one of the Japanese capital’s busiest shopping and nightlife districts – is abandoning its long-standing policy of asking people to take their rubbish home. Instead, it is turning to on-the-spot fines as visitor numbers surge and litter piles up. Under a new campaign branded “If you throw trash, you lose cash”, anyone caught dropping rubbish will be fined 2,000 yen (US$12.50), with enforcement starting on June 1 after a grace...

By Julian Ryall