I spotted the Headless Horseman’s Younger Sister out at the curb last Friday on Recyclable Trash Day among the ho-hum bags of beer cans, plastic water bottles and onesie-twosie hard liquor empties. The Garbage Powers That Be evidently decided that this cranium-challenged miss was made of suspiciously unrecyclable plastic, because she was still standing there when I came home later.
I thought for sure she’d be scooped up with the Burnable Trash on Saturday, though, since that’s the day one can even throw away plastic detergent empties without rinsing them and ending up with a Mt. Everest-like mountain of bubbles in one’s sink. Nope, still no date for the prom.
On No Trash Day Sunday, she stood out there all alone in the downpour, the world’s first Decapitated Rainfall Meter.
Today she stoically stands amid the Unburnable Trash. If she’s not swept away today with the broken curling irons, empty aerosol cans and dead lightbulbs, I’ll take it as a sign from the gods that my rubber dinosaur finger puppet head has finally found a body donor.
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“The Samurai’s Octopus…is a truly remarkable book, one that surprised and charmed me at every turn of the page. You’re in for a treat.”
—James Ziskin, Anthony, Barry, and Macavity Award-winning author of the Ellie Stone mysteries
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly e-magazine Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
Only In Japan 
Do they pick up different trash every day in Japan? (except Sunday, apparently.) How do they divide it up? Also, I find it hilarious that the trashman/women “inspect” the trash for compliance. Clearly that’s not the case here in ‘merica.
Oh oh oh, how did I miss this comment? Especially when it’s about my favorite obsession: Japanese garbage! Honestly, this is the single highest stress-inducer if you are a foreigner living in Japan. There’s a 20-page book listing every possible thing you might want to throw away (in Japanese, of course) and which category of trash it belongs in, so you can properly dispose of Burnable, Unburnable, Recyclable, Bundle-able, Batteries, Food Trays & Milk Cartons. If you put out something on the wrong day, it’s left at the curb in front of your house with a big brightly colored note detailing what you did wrong. It’s a nightmare! (If you’re a glutton for detail, I’ve ranted on about this before, in “First Poke A Hole With A Toothpick…” “Failing At Putting Out The Trash” and “Abracadabra!”)