Late-night TV personality Jimmy Kimmel had some harsh words for the American people following a trip to Japan, lamenting how dirty America and Europe are when compared to the Land of the Rising Sun.
“After traveling to Japan, I realize that this place, this USA we’re always chanting about, is a filthy and disgusting country,” Kimmel said on Monday night during “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
He noted that the Asian country is far ahead in terms of cleanliness compared to everywhere else, which has “areas for improvement.”
“The bathrooms in Tokyo and Kyoto are cleaner than our operating rooms here. Everywhere you go the bathrooms are clean, they don’t smell bad, they have those toilets that wash you from the inside out,” the host said.
Kimmel then applauded the self-responsibility that Japanese people have to take care of their environment, ensuring not to litter even after a 1995 terrorist incident that caused public trash cans to be removed.
“They’re like OK, no more trash cans, everybody clean up after yourselves. And guess what — they clean up after themselves! They bring their garbage to their houses,” he said.
“It’s like the whole country is Disneyland, and we’re living at Six Flags,” Kimmel said. “I’ve been home 36 hours, I have never felt dirtier. We are like hogs compared to the Japanese. I can’t imagine what they must think of us. ‘Oh, the garbage people. Yes, the Americans. Garbage.’”
Undoubtedly, there’s a major difference in cleanliness between America and Japan but the more important question is why?
Simply put, there’s a massive cultural difference between the two countries.
Japan ensures from a young age that children learn to tend for themselves and their environment. In Japanese schools, there is no janitor. Instead, the students are provided with cleaning supplies and expected to keep the classroom well maintained.
Even outside of school, neighborhoods and cities go above and beyond to keep their cities in fantastic condition out of respect for the city itself and its inhabitants.
Many Americans lack this respect for their country and cities, instead being told that they are above everything.
As The Atlantic author James Traub notes, liberalism has trended towards self-centered beliefs and away from communal ideas — the very beliefs that keep Japan so clean.
So perhaps Kimmel should be thinking a little deeper on why the country he believes to be “filthy and disgusting” is that way — as he’s undoubtedly a part of it.
