TOKYO (TR) – The bustling district of Ikebukuro in Toshima Ward is facing a mounting nuisance as local streets and garbage collection points are being inundated with illegally dumped suitcases, a trend largely blamed on the post-pandemic influx of foreign tourists.
Security camera footage from a quiet residential street recently captured a woman approaching a local trash designated area, casually dropping a large suitcase, and walking away. The entire act of illegal dumping took just five seconds, reports TV Asahi (May 7).
During a two-day survey near the West Exit of JR Ikebukuro Station, reporters discovered seven abandoned suitcases. Some were discarded openly on main streets, while others were stealthily tucked behind hotel vending machines or left outside private lodging facilities (minpaku) alongside signs reading “Illegal Dumping Prohibited.”
“It’s foreigners”
Local residents are pointing the finger directly at inbound travelers.
“It’s foreigners,” one local resident said when asked about the culprits. “There are a lot of them staying around here in the private lodgings.”
The brands of the discarded luggage appear to be foreign, further supporting the locals’ suspicions. Toshima Ward, home to Ikebukuro, attracts over 2 million foreign visitors annually—accounting for roughly one in four tourists visiting Tokyo. The area is a magnet for travelers due to its cheap hotels, dense concentration of minpaku, and massive discount electronics retailers.
According to retailers, tourists frequently arrive with cheap or worn-out luggage, only to buy high-quality, durable Japanese suitcases to haul home their shopping.
However, a bureaucratic blind spot is fueling the dumping spree. Under Toshima Ward regulations, disposing of a suitcase requires a formal “oversized garbage” application and a fee—a system built exclusively for registered residents.
“We have not envisioned a system for foreign tourists,” a Toshima Ward official admitted. Consequently, travelers looking to upgrade their luggage have no legal way to throw away their old bags.
“Cat and mouse”
When suitcases are dumped, they are initially slapped with an “uncollectible” sticker. If no one claims the item after about a week, the ward is forced to treat it as illegal dumping and dispose of it using taxpayer money.
“It’s a game of cat and mouse,” complained one local resident. “Someone leaves one, and suddenly a bunch more appear because they bought new ones and don’t need the old ones. It’s a huge nuisance.”
In an attempt to stem the tide of illegal dumping, some local businesses are stepping up. At the Bic Camera Ikebukuro flagship store, where foreign tourists are snapping up Japanese-made luggage for its reliability, a trade-in system has been launched.
“For customers who purchase a new suitcase for 5,500 yen or more, we will take back one old suitcase free of charge,” said Hiroyuki Hoshina, a supervisor at the store’s travel corner. Local authorities are hoping such initiatives will encourage tourists to leave their old baggage at the register rather than on the curb.
