Images of “blue samurai” fans cleaning World Cup stadiums before leaving the venues drew widespread praise. But a viral post complains that men rarely do the same in their homes in Japan.
The International Football Federation (Fifa) celebrated this week on the social network X the “impeccable manners” of Japanese fans, who meticulously collected their waste in the stands after matches.
Images of fans dressed in blue making sure not to leave trash multiplied on social media, but a message that went viral on X relativized these actions.
“Japanese men are among those who dedicate the least time to domestic tasks around the world”, states the publication, which has already had 1.9 million views.
“Do this at home too”, adds the text, accompanied by a satirical illustration in which a fan proudly cleans the stadium, but, at home, he throws himself on the sofa, indifferent to a pile of clothes and a woman washing the dishes.
According to 2021 data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Japanese men participate very little in domestic tasks.
Women spend 5.5 times more time than men on “unpaid work”, such as shopping, cleaning the house or looking after children.
This difference is much greater than in countries such as the United Kingdom, France or the United States, where women spend, respectively, 1.8, 1.7 and 1.6 times more time than men performing domestic tasks.
Defenders of the initiative to clean the stadium present it as proof of Japanese cultural altruism, but there are also those who see this gesture as an act.
On social media, opinions are divided.
“Women who suffer from husbands who never clean should also wear national team shirts at home,” says an internet user. “It’s an exaggerated generalization: not all Japanese men are like this,” says another user.
