"Protecting Beauty" on Cleaning Day

Earlier this evening I introduced two of Japan's garbage related anniversaries, playing on a pun of how 5/3 can be read as "gomi", the Japanese for garbage. Well, there is another anniversary related to that reading of 5/3, but it connects it not just to gomi for garbage, but also gomi for "protecting beauty" 護美. It is called Cleaning Day そうじの日.

As the name suggests, "Cleaning Day" promotes cleaning! But the purpose of the day goes further. It is to encourage people to reduce waste and protect the cleanliness of their surroundings through mindful, everyday action. On this day, the association calls for a nationwide "Let's Clean Together"! Many communities do hold local street-cleaning activities.

My own town did in the past too and I always found it really frustrating that it was on a public holiday! Thankfully, for me, they stopped it during the pandemic, and it never came back. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against a community clean up, but I think it is a really bad idea to have it on a public holiday.

Does your local community have a clean-up on May 3rd annually?