Tokyo has unleashed a new weapon in its battle against the mess left by tourists: fixed penalty fines for littering. From the neon sprawl of Shibuya to the serene temples of Asakusa, anyone caught dropping a cigarette butt or a drinks can can expect an instant ¥5,000 (£30) fine. The crackdown, which began this week, targets the worst offending hotspots where visitor numbers have soared to suffocating levels. Now a chorus of local authorities in British tourist traps from Edinburgh to Cornwall are being urged by campaign groups to adopt the same zero-tolerance approach.
The move comes as Westminster prevaricates over a new antisocial behaviour bill. Ministers say they want to give councils more powers but have stopped short of mandatory fines. In Tokyo, the police have already handed out hundreds of warnings and over a dozen actual penalties. Shops report cleaner pavements and fewer overflowing bins. The logic is brutal: if fines sting the wallet, the streets will stay clean.
But this is not just about aesthetics. For the low paid workers who sweep the streets in the rain, every discarded wrapper is a symbol of inequality. A minimum wage cleaner in Brighton earns £11.44 an hour. A fine of £30 is three hours work. Yet the tourist who drops the can often earns in a minute what the cleaner makes in an hour. Zero tolerance sounds good on the news. But it must be backed by proper enforcement and resources. A fine on paper is worthless if no one is there to write it.
In the UK, the Campaign for Real Enforcement points out that most councils issue fewer than ten fines a month. The cost of hiring wardens, they argue, is too high. But Tokyo proves it can be done. A combination of visible police presence, plain clothes officers, and public shaming has transformed the city’s dirtiest districts. The Japanese capital now spends less on street cleaning than it did before the fines were introduced.
There is a risk however that a zero tolerance approach becomes a regressive tax on the poor. In London, a litter fine of £150 can tip a family on universal credit into debt. Some boroughs already issue penalty notices disproportionally to black and minority ethnic residents. Tokyo’s fines are fixed and non-negotiable. That is simpler but it also means no discretion for the single mother whose toddler drops a crisp packet from the buggy.
The answer, say union leaders, is not to punish the poor but to tax the wealthy tourists who generate the waste. A tourist tax on city centre hotels, they argue, would fund free bins and more street cleaners. The profits of the travel industry should pay for the damage rather than the wages of the workers. But in the absence of that, councils are left to choose between dirty streets and punitive fines.
For now, the Tokyo example will be waved in the faces of ministers. Several Conservative MPs have already called for a national littering crackdown. The Mayor of Manchester has expressed interest in trialling something similar in the city centre. The difficulty is enforcement: British police are already stretched. The solution may lie in expanding the role of council wardens with the power to issue on the spot fines.
But we must remember that the people who suffer most are the ones who live and work in these areas. A cleaner in Leicester Square told me this morning that tourists treat her like she is invisible. She has to sweep up their rubbish while they take selfies. A fine might make them think twice. But what she really wants is a living wage and some respect. Zero tolerance is a start. But it is not the end.
