‘Pitch it more at home’: Japan’s World Cup clean-up faces criticism back home

Japanese football fans have a long history of cleaning up stadiums after World Cup matches. This tradition was once again followed by Samurai Blue fans at the World Cup 2026. But this time, the clean-up World Cup tradition has sparked backlash back home.When photos of Japanese fans picking up rubbish and cleaning the stadium after a match flooded the internet, some pointed out the double standards: where is this same conscientiousness when it comes to household responsibilities? The men who clean after themselves in public seldom do so at home. In fact, many leave that responsibility to their wives.While cleanliness is an integral part of Japanese culture, the responsibility for household chores and cleaning often falls on women.

As the internet lauded Japanese fans for cleaning up the stadium, another post from a Japanese user soon went viral. It showed a man picking up litter at a match, then the same man reclined on a sofa, scrolling through his phone at home near a basket of laundry, while his wife did the dishes.

The user added that men in Japan should ‘pitch in more at home’, adding that they spend the least time on housework internationally. The post has since gone viral, with over 60,000 likes.

“Please do it at home,” one said. “Everyone wants to save the world, but no one wants to help mum do the dishes,” an X user quipped, referring to a quote by American author PJ O’Rourke. Another said, “There’s probably a guy among these people picking up trash who has a young child at home and has left his wife to look after them so he can come and watch the World Cup.”Japanese women spend more than three hours per day on unpaid work, which is more than five times that of men, who spend about 47 minutes daily, according to Organisation