Japan's love affair with plastic bags

Kevin McGue

Shop clerks have laughed at me. Convenience store cashiers give me confused looks. Department store staff become befuddled. It isn’t because my Japanese is so bad (OK, sometimes), or because I look funny (maybe). No, the reason is that I almost never accept a plastic bag. Instead, I usually say “Fukuro wa kekko desu,” which is the politest phrase I know for refusing a bag and which I have used thousands of times. This is disorientating for the shop staff, as most costumers take bags for granted.

There are many reasons to refuse single-use plastic bags. It takes 1,000 years for a single one to photodegrade. Unlike paper bags that biodegrade into harmless bacteria, plastic bags can only be broken down by sunlight into tiny bits that release toxins into the earth. Their production also requires huge amounts of petroleum and natural gas, both non-renewable and quickly dwindling resources. Toxic pollutants are created as a byproduct.

A large percentage of plastic bags end up as litter, many blown into seas and oceans, where whales, sea turtles, and other threatened species die after mistaking them for food. Considerable resources are required every year to collect, haul and dispose of the bags that have been used only once. Retailers spend billions of dollars for these “free” bags every year, resulting in higher product prices for you.

Currently, you must pay these higher prices whether you accept a bag or not. The advocacy site http://reusablebags.com estimates that over 500 billion single-use bags are given out each year — nearly 1 million per minute. Around 30 billion of these are used in Japan, which translates to about 300 per year for each adult.

I’m surprised that the number is not larger. Drop into a Japanese convenience store to pick up a newspaper, a single serving of ice cream, and a loaf of bread, and you are likely to get not one, but three separate bags — one for each item — in addition to the plastic bag the bread is packaged in. Go into a bakery and select a blueberry bagel, a plain bagel, and a chocolate bagel, and expect to get another four bags: one for each bagel — presumably to prevent harmful flavor transference to your plain bagel — and a larger one to help you carry them home.

Attempts to curb this plastic mania have been less successful in Japan than elsewhere. Traditionally, purchases were carefully wrapped in colorful paper, beautifully dyed furoshiki kerchiefs, or even old ukiyoe art prints. Today, wrapping is still considered a part of the product, even if it is a colorless and flimsy bag.

A spokesperson for the Japan Franchise Association recently told the Japan Times that it would be “unhygienic and very rude” to hand a customer a hot or cold item without the bag they expect. However, if you stand outside of one of Japan’s thousands of convenience stores, it won’t be long before you see a customer unwrap their canned coffee as they walk out, depositing the bag that’s been used for all of 15 seconds into the trash bin in front of the store, or onto the sidewalk.

In 2002, Ireland introduced a bag tax that reduced consumption from 1. 2 billion the previous year by 90%. I have heard rumors that Japan will introduce a similar plan beginning in April. Which April is anyone’s guess — I’ve been hearing this rumor for five years now. If such a law is introduced, I fear it will have limited impact for two reasons. One is the proposed price — 2-4 yen — will probably not be much of a deterrent to shoppers. The other reason is red tape. I don’t mean government bureaucracy; I’m talking about the adhesive tape that many shops insist on sticking on each and every item if you decline a bag. Shops think of the tape as a proof of purchase, but since a paper receipt is also issued, it seems redundant. If I buy eight items and refuse a bag, I get eight strips of tape. That is still unnecessary waste in my opinion, and causes the same environmental problems.

Anyone who has read this far is probably thinking that this one fanatic’s efforts aren’t even making a dent. True, I am only subtracting 300 from 30 billion each year, but I am part of a trend emerging in Japan. Many supermarkets are now offering stamp cards or other incentives to encourage customers to bring in reusable bags. I don’t expect everyone to lug around a canvas bag or carry a box of ice cream with their bare hands in the dead of winter like I do, but refusing a plastic bag for a small item you are immediately going to slip into your backpack or consume is a responsible thing anyone can do. Repeat after me: "Fukuro wa kekko desu."

Kevin McGue is a freelance translator and editor in Tokyo.
December 24, 2006

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Geez and I thought America was bad about plastic bags more so than anywhere

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It's funny how some countries are swarming with those plastic bags and other countries (like Germany) only give them to you if you ask for them and then you have to pay for it. Alot of people bring backpacks to put their food in or cloth bags etc.

The only place I find them swarming is in chinatown bakeries. They must be the biggest violators. I buy 6 buns and get 3 stupid little bags. I rip them open and then dump all the buns in the large bag anyway. So what's the point poncho?? I asked one of the clerks why they do that. She says she thinks it keeps the buns separate for freshness and "cleaner" that way. WTF? Soooo.. you're telling me the larger bags are dirt infested?? Um, ok.. let's call the health department..

Does anyone know if this has or is about to go into affect in Japan?

I know there is talk of a bag tax here as well. I see the point about waste and such, but if you buy many bags of food, it's quite expensive to buy and bring multiple bags for your own use, especially if you are the type to forget them at home. I've heard from grocery clerks it may be voted in within the next year here in Vegas. I'm interested in the outcome.