Going to Tokyo? You'll need this app

In a bid to help foreign residents better understand rules concerning garbage disposal, Tokyo's Suginami Ward Office has created foreign-language editions of a smartphone app that provides such information as garbage collection schedules and how to separate trash.

The ward office has been making active efforts to reduce garbage. In fiscal 2015, the amount of garbage disposed of per day in the ward stood at 490 grams per resident, the lowest among Tokyo's 23 wards for five straight years. The ward office introduced the free app called "Namisuke no Gomidashi Master" in Japanese two years ago. The first of its kind among Tokyo's 23 wards, the app had logged about 22,000 downloads as of the end of October.

The ward office decided to make the app available in foreign languages because it receives many inquiries about waste disposal from foreigners living in the ward. Called the "Suginami waste disposing application" in English, it is also available in languages like Chinese and Korean. According to the ward office, the number of foreigners in the ward has been on the rise, with about 14,000 foreign nationals registered as residents as of Nov. 1.

The ward office started from this fiscal year to put up new signboards that provide information about garbage disposal, such as the collection schedule, at about 35,000 collection sites. The new signs make it easier for non-Japanese residents who cannot read Japanese to understand garbage disposal rules, for example, with larger illustrations that explain how to separate garbage.

"We want to reduce the garbage thrown away in the ward by helping [foreign residents] properly understand the relevant rules," a ward official said.