Cleaning culture in Japan

The attitude towards hygiene and cleanliness is different in Japan than the western culture.

I grew up in Japan and lived until I graduated high school. Cleaning time was one of the most fun time of the day.

Japanese schools do not have janitors and we cleaned ourselves. The whole school including the teachers all clean the school together at the same time. Each class will be assigned a spot to clean within the school in addition to their classroom. One such area is the ‘genkan’ which is a shoebox area. In Japan, we change our out-door shoes into our indoor shoes at the entrance. Each of us had an individual shoebox, the box had two levels and the top was for the indoor shoes and bottom for the outdoor shoes.

Cleaning time taught us not only how to clean but to respect the buildings that we use, as well as other people and fundamentally cleaning after your mess and keeping the surroundings clean.

When we went on a school trip and stayed at a hotel, we were told to ‘make the place cleaner than you found it’. This didn’t mean to scrub the toilets but it was to take away your rubbish, tidy the beds without leaving everything in a mess.

Growing up in Japan, cleaning was not a ‘punishment’ nor ‘boring’. Cleaning has always been a group activity and a form of showing ‘respect’.

This is why I do absolutely love and truly passionate about running a cleaning company. It is more than just a cleaning for me. It is about care and respect to people and the building. By doing that, I feel like we are able to add a great value to our clients and our future clients!

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