As you clear up after Christmas and prepare for New Year, spare a thought for American Vincent Dodson. He is spending his "holiday" as he passes every day, sleeping rough in the park beside the JR Yamanote line near Shibuya Station, and demonstrating against what he describes as "the wantonly wasteful habit of using disposable chopsticks."
It is not so long ago that all Japanese carried their own "ohashi" (chopsticks), and every family member had their own pair at home. Now it's different, and you can bet that over New Year the use of "waribashi" (throwaway chopsticks) will soar, as households indulge in the very minimum of household chores.
I found Vincent on one of the main Shibuya crossings -- a lone figure muffled against the cold holding up a placard written mainly in Japanese, with a collage of used waribashi and associated trash. "Gosh, you're brave," I said. Later we drank hot soy milk in front of a coffee shop. He was reluctant to go inside, because (in his own words), "I think I smell a bit ripe."
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