THE JAPANESE CLEAN UP

At World Cup matches going all the way back to their country’s debut in France in 1998, Japanese supporters have stayed behind after the final whistle, pulled out blue plastic bags, and worked the rows, picking up cups, wrappers, and discarded flags until their section looked the way they found it.

- BY BOBBY GHOSH Ghosh, a commentator on geopolitics, is a former TIME editor

Japan fans flourish their trash bags before a 2022 World Cup match in Qatar

Viral videos mean tens of millions of people who could not name a Japanese player can describe the scene.

The players have joined in. After Japan’s stunning 2-1 win over Germany at Khalifa International Stadium in 2022, FIFA tweeted out a photo of the Japanese dressing room: towels folded, water bottles lined up, floor swept. On the table sat 11 origami cranes, one for each player on the pitch, and a handwritten note reading “Thank you” in Japanese and Arabic.

Some folks cite the Japanese proverb “Tatsu tori ato wo nigosazu” (The departing bird does not leave the water muddy) to argue that this form of civility is a national trait. I am not an expert in Japanese culture. What I can tell you is that the cleanup routine is one of the most efficient soft-power campaigns of the 21st century, without a single yen of government spending or a single strategy memo from the Japanese Foreign Ministry.