拭浄と清浄の単語 - Cleaning and cleanliness

If I tell you that cleaning in Japan is not just a necessity but also a virtue, do you believe me? A virtue that participates in the rhythm and lifestyle of all Japanese people. And this, for centuries, Shintoism having greatly influenced the Japanese people in the respect of others, material goods and the environment. It goes without saying that stores that sell household cleaning products make good profits on this cultural criterion. Pharmacies too, because cleanliness and health are synonymous in Japan. Because in addition to the most classic medicines that can be found there, pharmacies also sell cosmetics and household products, from bathroom cleaning spray to washing powder. Not to mention organic products such as cereal bars, biscuits...

So of course, Japan is not the only country where pharmacies have expanded their product lines to attract more customers, but I want to make you understand how important cleanliness is for Japanese people. There is so much to say that a presentation on the subject awaits you after the vocabulary list below.

Before I start, I would like to make a quick comment about the word 拭浄 in the title. It translates to "cleaning". However, the word 掃除 which translates as "cleaning, sweeping" is more widely used.

Yes, this introduction is really very short, isn’t it? But I have nothing more to say. The shorter, the more effective. And thirty-three vocabulary words. Thirty three! (LOL)

Note: in English, 拭浄 and 清浄 can have the same meaning. That said, 清浄 can also be translated as "purity" or "purification".

拭浄 . ショクジョウ . the cleaning
掃除 . ソウジ . the cleaning, the sweeping
拭き掃除 . ふきソウジ . the cleaning, the scrubbing
クリーニング . the cleaning
ドライクリーニング . the dry cleaning
箒 / 帚 . ほうき . the broom
葉箒 / 葉帚 . はほうき . the leaf broom, the rustic broom (sometimes written 葉ほうき)
竹箒 / 竹帚 . たけほうき . the bamboo broom (sometimes written 竹ほうき)
庭箒 / 庭帚 . にわほうき . the garden broom (sometimes written 庭ほうき)
デッキブラシ . the deck-brush
モップ . the mop
漂白剤 . ヒョウハクザイ . the bleach
ブリーチ . the bleach
漂白剤ボトル . ヒョウハクザイボトル . the bleach bottle
ブリーチボトル . the bleach bottle
掃除機 / 掃除器 . ソウジキ . the vacuum cleaner
掃除機袋 / 掃除器袋 . ソウジキぶくろ . . the vacuum cleaner bag
ダスト . the dust
塵 . ちり . the dust
クリーニングクロス . the cleaning cloth
ダスター . the duster
ダストクロス . the dust cloth
塵取り . ちりとり . the dustpan
ダストパン . the dustpan
ダストビン . the dustbin
クリーニング製品 . クリーニングセイヒン . the maintenance product, the cleaning product
袋 . ふくろ . the bag, the sachet
手袋 . てぶくろ . the gloves
ゴム手袋 . ゴムてぶくろ . the rubber gloves
ゴムグローブ . the rubber gloves, the gum glove
クリーニング手袋 . クリーニングてぶくろ . the cleaning glove
クリーニンググローブ . the cleaning glove
スプリング・クリーニング . the spring cleaning

A holy spirit in a clean body, this is in summary what emerges from the deep Japanese culture. Inevitably influenced by Shintoism, which is closer to a philosophy of life than to religion, the Japanese place a special emphasis on the notion of purification. For good reason, since the constitution of 1868 under the Meiji era, Shintoism has remained the state « religion » of the Empire of Japan. If the religiosity of the Japanese decreased sharply after the war, it is estimated that 107 million Japanese still « practice » Shintoism (84% of the population) while having a neutral approach to belief. No Japanese follow religion in a dogmatic way, but the rites remain naturally present in daily life.

The fact is that purification is central to Shinto rites. The things of the physical world having a soul, in this belief, it is for example customary to purify oneself as well as those around us. A symbolic rite which serves in particular to avoid being struck by a curse, the revenge of the spirit of an object or a being. If cleaning oneself is symbolic, the same words are used to talk about daily activities (sweeping, cleaning,…). The ritual of cleanliness is therefore intimately rooted in the habits of the Japanese. The omnipresence of onsen (温泉) and other hot baths, long considered a means of purifying body and mind, are also strong symbols of cultural hygiene.

In most Western countries, you will find trash cans every fifty meters; but in the Japanese archipelago, they are rather rare. This fact tends to destabilize tourists and to question: how can this country be so clean without these bins? There are several answers. First of all, the Japanese generally carry their waste with them because they consider that they are responsible for it as soon as they consume a product. Admittedly, the ubiquity of plastic bags helps with this task. It will therefore be common to see a group of Japanese holidaymakers taking their rubbish to the landfill after a boozy barbecue, leaving the immaculate ground behind. Of course, perfection does not exist. You will be able to come across waste on land, in parks and along the Japanese coast.

Same thing with pets. These can be seen everywhere in Tokyo and elsewhere. It is however practically impossible to cross a dejection on a sidewalk. All Japanese with a dog carry a bag adapted to this type of situation. The owner brings everything home to empty the excrement into the toilet. It will even be common for the paws of the dog in question to be vigorously cleaned before it is allowed to enter the house. In addition, the Japanese hardly consume food in the middle of the street (Tokyo not being a reference in the matter) and never in public transport, each place having a well-defined utility. A suitable trash can will therefore be found in places where Japanese people are invited to consume.

Well, that said, it wasn't always like this. In the post-war period, Japan experienced the famous industrial boom and the entry into the consumer society was dazzling. So much so that waste of all kinds and cigarette butts littered the streets despite the garbage collection. Garbage cans on the streets of central Tokyo disappeared following the 1995 bombing and the increase in Islamic terrorism after 2001. It is still possible to find trash cans in the stations from which they were initially removed, the said stations being places with high human concentrations.

But these attacks also correspond with the beginning of the economic crisis in Japan and with the budgetary restrictions of the town halls, in other words, fewer garbage cans to be collected at the expense of the town hall equal less expenditure. In the early 2000s, smoking was banned in the streets of central Tokyo. Smokers must now go to cafes, bistros and other catering services offering a smoking area to be able to enjoy their little pleasure. This time, the pretext was that of the dangerousness of cigarette burns because as the Japanese smoke while walking with a cigarette in their hand, they could burn the children who were at their level and make pretty little round holes in the clothes of other passers-by. Before that date, there were a lot of cigarette butts crushed in the streets and collecting them cost the town halls money. It was therefore decided by the town halls to ban smoking in the streets of the center.

We could also add awareness of environmental protection, the need for selective sorting and recycling, the development of sorting bins... But I think I’ll save that for another vocabulary lesson on ecology and recycling. Maybe for the third season.

Japanese companies are, for the most part, still influenced by the famous management technique of the 5 « S ». As strict as it is generalist, it aims for the continuous improvement of the tasks carried out in the offices. The third rule is the Seiso (清掃), understand « to make shine » (cleaning). A rule as symbolic as it is effective, the Japanese worker is required to order his work and clean it up, in particular by taking care of his working environment.

For good reason, in the factories during the post-war industrial boom, the lack of cleanliness could lead to the blocking of machines and a loss of output (growth, growth!). Systematic cleaning has become an inevitable standard and a guarantee of quality that will also be felt outside the workspace. It is also common for large companies to organize collective cleaning days. We can thus observe « salary-men » with ties, a bag and a pole in hand, going around the building where they work to collect the waste. Again, in this logic, the healthy space allows peace of mind, therefore a better job!

Note: The 5S method is a management technique that is part of the quality approach. Sort, discard, recycle, archive, place work tools according to their frequency of use. To store, to classify in such a way as to limit physical movement or the carrying of heavy objects, to optimize the use of space.

The Japanese take great care of the objects they own and the places where they live. We could even say that they religiously take care of everything around them. Once again, the teachings of the Shinto religion and the influence of Confucian philosophy have something to do with it. Even in fantasy tales there are stories of objects turning into youkai because their owners didn’t take enough care of them. Or houses haunted by spirits because tenants didn’t sweep enough.

At each stop in a station terminal, Japanese bullet trains are thoroughly cleaned. A team of cleaner ants await their arrival and prohibit travelers from entering. Once the train is at a standstill, they work diligently on a thorough cleaning. It’s the miracle of seven minutes. During these seven minutes, each gesture is measured, timed and applied with a rigor hardly imaginable in the West. As a result, the trains are perfectly clean. We could also talk about train and metro station agents who use tongs to reach objects that have fallen on the tracks. However, the tool is difficult to handle to successfully grab headphones, especially wireless ones. Wireless earphones tend to get stuck in the gravel on the rails. Well JR East, the operator of the trains serving Tokyo (Japan) and its suburbs has deployed the major means in the face of the resurgence of wireless headphones fallen on the tracks. The company has in fact teamed up with the Japanese company Panasonic to create a vacuum cleaner specially designed to recover Airpods and other equipment of this type from the rails. And this, since 2020.

While these practices once again reflect Japanese-style hygiene, thus seeking to respect the comfort of train users, it is also a matter of respecting the object itself and its symbolic value (sic, Shintoism) by extending a its maximum lifespan. In this way, the trains age little, like the metros, and can have a long operating life. The same goes for the stations which are perpetually cleaned, the employees even going so far as to scrape off any chewing gum stuck to the ground… Pastries, bakeries, cafes, restaurants, konbinis and any other public place (shops, shops, boutiques, municipal library, bookstores, museums…) undergo the same treatment. This cleanliness of the services really makes you want to participate in this collective respect for public goods.

Moreover, in Japanese fashion shops, you start by taking off your shoes to access the fitting rooms. To pass a garment, one must wear a special mask to avoid staining the parts with foundation, so that the garments can be used from the next customer without having been soiled, if they are not purchased immediately. Then, in rainy weather, when the Japanese want to enter a place, they are asked to put their wet umbrellas in a common bin. Some large chains or shopping centers offer an alternative solution that not only allows you not to drain it, but also avoids having your umbrella accidentally "borrowed". It is a small plastic bag, like a kind of condom that you put on the umbrella with one hand. Finally, during sporting events, at the end of the matches, the Japanese supporters pick up all their rubbish, leaving almost immaculate bleachers that contrast greatly with those of other nationalities. Their players are following in their footsteps by cleaning their locker rooms themselves. The Japanese thus involuntarily advertise their civility and cleanliness to the amazed whole world, when the gesture seems so obvious in the end.

Paradox: this rule does not seem to work with habitat! For good reason, houses are not built to last. After 30 years, a house is already considered old in Japan. Most often, new owners prefer to destroy a house to build something new, more modern and above all more secure. For good reason, the ground being unstable, the most modern construction techniques are popular. And even so, the destruction/reconstruction option often seems preferred. No soul for the houses? A great loss for the culture of the country. Everywhere, traditional houses are giving way to cold, westernized and soulless blocks… It is sad to note that in two or three generations, there will be practically nothing left, apart from the historic temples, of this rich architectural past.

Always to talk about hygiene and respect for places, the Japanese have the concept of soto/uchi (外/内). They mark a real difference between the exterior and the interior. On a physical level, it is materialized by the genkan, a vestibule of one or more square meters found at the entrance of houses and apartments, ryokan, temples or even izakaya (bars-restaurants).

It is unthinkable to walk in shoes in a Japanese interior, at home or in a shared space. They are therefore removed there to walk inside in socks or slippers, a kind of plastic slippers (and not barefoot, always for hygiene reasons). It is therefore important to always have a clean pair of socks with no holes!

I add a small paragraph on Japanese toilets. There is a lot to say on the subject but to stay within the theme of the course, know that in Japan free toilets are accessible at very many places (stations, konbini, department stores, tourist places...), which avoid "outpourings" at street corners. It also seems that Japanese men are more likely than other nationalities to do the little errand sitting and not standing, thus avoiding unfortunate "projections" on the toilet bowl.

Finally, for the inhabitants of houses in residential areas, cleaning does not stop at the limits of the land one owns. Thus, everyone sweeps and maintains the portion of sidewalk (or even road) in front of their house on a daily basis: we sweep up dead leaves or any dirt, weed the aisles, we clear the snow... In this way, the shared areas are preserved and more pleasant to walk through.

Japan even has volunteer organizations dedicated to cleanup. From Tokyo to Paris, the non-profit association Green Bird is now known internationally for organizing its clean-up actions in major cities around the world. Its members are recognized by their green aprons and yellow gloves. The idea is simple: « A clean town also makes people’s hearts and minds cleaned. »

This type of organization invites citizens to get active in cleaning the streets of their city. But what is left to clean up in such a clean Japan? This is the whole point of this type of organization. It’s not just a matter of picking up very visible garbage like cans or large objects, but of looking for small items, scraping the floors and finding this waste that ordinary people will not necessarily see. The idea is to sanitize a place before dirt can be detected. Moreover, from a health point of view, dirt is not limited to the visible aspect of things.

Remember to take a look at the Green Bird website (even if everything is written in Japanese): Green Bird

The field of the road is also an example of cleanliness in Japan. In general, the air is very low in fine particles, even in Tokyo, which is one of the capitals of Asia the most spared from pollution problems. Ahead of the rest of the world, many cars are hybrid, electric or have very small displacements. In addition, Japan imposed restrictions on diesel engines as early as the 1970s. In addition, bicycles are very numerous on the roads of the capital and the public transport networks are particularly efficient. Having a car in Tokyo is more of a burden than the other way around.

But what stands out on the roads is the cleanliness of the vehicles themselves. Apart from the immaculate taxis whose model of car seems to have stood the test of time without damage, the trucks and machines used in construction, which are numerous in Tokyo, are generally very clean. Every day, the driver takes care of his equipment and meticulously cleans his vehicle at the end of the day. It is therefore common to come across trucks with sparkling chrome bumpers in the middle of transporting materials. A real pride for its owner, who will sometimes not hesitate to adorn his vehicle with various decorations or lights.

In Japan, you are quickly struck by how everything should be in its place. If this mentality can sometimes slow down certain evolutions of social structures and benefit more conservative than progressive policies, it is central in the life of the Japanese. Quite simply, there are things that are not done in places that are not suitable for doing them! As mentioned above, it is very rare to see a Japanese eating while walking in the street. More common, the shoes are removed at the entrance of the home. The line between clean and dirty is physical.

In this way, we can consider that, in the Japanese collective imagination, dirt has no place in a civilized society. Waste therefore has its own place and everyone should take it there. However, Japan remains a highly industrialized country, with the consequences experienced by all developed countries and the lack of investment by certain key players in society in ecological issues. The case of Teshima, located to the east of the Seto Inland Sea, also called the waste island, is quite revealing. This illegal industrial landfill created in the 80s has ravaged the local environment to the present day, bringing happiness to many polluting industries. This case bears witness to the story of a Japan in the midst of an economic boom totally overwhelmed by the profusion of its industrial and urban waste, preferring to close its eyes to the externalities of the modern way of life by sending them away from the eyes of the consumer.

In contrast to Western cultures, the Japanese tend to avoid physical contact between themselves and other people. For example, to make the greetings, the Japanese bow in front of their interlocutor. And it’s not just a simple inclination. There is a whole way to do and show respect to the interlocutor depending on your position in relation to the latter and vice versa. The Japanese never kiss or shake hands. Afterwards, if they are abroad in a Western country, they will probably shake hands with men but will probably not kiss women.

In Japan, this avoidance of contact goes much further. Thus, taxi drivers are equipped with white gloves, although the rear doors open and close automatically. In the restaurant, each customer who sits at the table is given a small hot towel that acts as a finger-rinse so that they can dry their hands before starting to eat. Although it is not the custom, some Japanese take the opportunity to also pass it on the face, the neck and the nape of the neck. This small hot towel is named お絞り . おしぼり. Note the presence of the politeness prefix お. In bakeries and pastry shops, employees move products with tongs on a tray, and never by hand as in the West.

Finally, in businesses, it is very frowned upon to give money from hand to hand. When the Japanese need to pay something or when they receive their salary or have to reimburse someone, they use an intermediary to avoid direct contact. By intermediary, I mean an object or a process. Thus, if the salary is not necessarily received by bank transfer (process), it is put in an envelope (object) before being given. And the envelope must be held with two hands. In shops, when paying at the checkout, if a Japanese person wants to pay in cash or in small change, he puts the money in a small tray. Again, never from hand to hand.

Precursors in the use of the sanitary mask, the Japanese like other Asian peoples very early became aware of the dangerousness of epidemics. Used during seasonal viruses in winter and pollution peaks in Asian countries in full industrialization (Japan, China, Taiwan and South Korea in particular), wearing a mask is inseparable from these various cultures.

Combined with compliance with basic hygiene rules and effective tracing of contamination routes, the mask has been strongly recommended in Japan since the start of the pandemic and imposed in South Korea, Taiwan and China. After the shortages of the first months, its wearing became widespread and the habit remained. In the fall of 2021, when the number of daily contaminations did not exceed a few dozen per day in Japan and no restrictive measures were in place, everyone continued to wear them in transport as in the streets, at the office or in classrooms.

Japan is one of the most populous countries in the world and yet it has one of the lowest death tolls from COVID-19.

The healthy space allows peace of mind, so a better job! This sentence I mentioned earlier when I talked about companies. This principle is also integrated into primary schools where Japanese children learn cleanliness and respect for the environment. They themselves are regularly invited, like a collective game, to tidy up and clean their classroom. Even in kindergarten, after recess, the youngest will spontaneously wash their hands collectively. In some schools only, the practice is pushed to the point even where the pupils do their own dishes after the meal.

In some parts of Japan, therefore, school teaches children the values of life very early on. As the start of the new school year approaches, it is not uncommon to see scissors, colored pencils and… a cleaning cloth on the list of school supplies given to parents. So that the children do the big cleaning from top to bottom in Japanese style.

This education, which aims to transmit the values of respect, cleanliness, politeness and safety, values transmitted very early, has beneficial effects on the adults they will become.

Finally, the end of the tunnel. I didn’t expect to end this third season on such a long vocabulary course. This simple course required hours of work, research, writing, editing and rewriting. I discovered so many things about cleaning and cleanliness in Japan, I never imagined that the subject was so vast and I hope that you too will have expanded your knowledge of Japanese culture.

It’s finally high time to leave you with the little redundant phrase that always makes you happy. Feel free to read it over several times to digest what we have just seen, practice again and again to write your hiragana, your katakana and your kanji. Review the vocabulary even in previous courses.

Thank you all for reading this course and good luck for the future.