Junichiro Furusawa: Aiming for Japan's Most Fun Trash Pickup!

"I want to be Ultraman!" In my childhood, many of my friends, including myself, wanted to be superheroes who protected the Earth. I wonder when it started—when we began calling people working hard for the planet "hypocrites" or "overly conscious."

I was born as the son of a ship chandler in Tokyo and have lived my life indebted to the sea and rivers. I have been active in trash pickup and raising interest in the ocean for 14 years now, but I was originally someone who littered. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I used to think of people doing things without any personal "gain" as "hypocrites" or "overly conscious." However, now—though it may sound grand to say "to protect the Earth"—I sincerely want to convey the wonders of the "ocean" and "nature" that I love to children and restore the beautiful sea.

Rather than "for the Earth," it is simply that what I want to do is "clean the ocean enough so that the seahorses that once lived in the waters of Enoshima return." In that process, it is important to do everything "fun!" I believe the time has come to ignite the small "Ultraman spirit" remaining in our hearts. The ocean is now in such a serious state that it is screaming for help.

I think most people are unaware that about 70% to 80% of "trash that washes up on the shore" and "trash floating in the sea" comes from "rivers and cities." Ocean trash flows from our own lives into the sea.

During my university days, I belonged to the Athletic Association Tennis Club. Since I wasn't a strong player, I was always a ball boy. Back then, ball boys couldn't even drink water; we had to dash to pick up every ball and hand them to the regular players. During matches, we performed our duties in school uniforms and caps. I was frustrated that I couldn't become a regular, but before I knew it, I gained enough confidence to think I might be among the top-ranked ball boys in Japan.

Because I had confidence in my physical strength, guts, and "picking things up," when I started picking up trash in 2005, I was determined: "I'm going to pick up every bit of trash on the Enoshima coast (Nishiura) by myself and make it sparkle!" However, I was shocked by the amount of trash and compromised by narrowing the scope, saying, "I'll just clean this area today." The following month, the area I had cleaned was full of trash again!

Thinking it was boring alone and impossible to pick it all up, I decided to form a voluntary organization called "Umi Sakura" and ask for cooperation. I forced friends and juniors to come and started a monthly trash pickup. Despite it being a season with few swimmers and tourists, no matter how much we picked up, there was trash on the shore again.

Wondering "Why?", I looked into various things and learned that "ocean trash comes from rivers, river trash from the city, and city trash is produced by the human heart" (I actually learned this two years after starting the activity).

I have been picking up trash for 14 years, and my actual feeling is that over 90% is city trash from daily life. That is how much city trash flows into the sea. Therefore, I realized that to make the sea of Enoshima clean, we have to convey this to the people in the city, or it will never be clean.

At the beginning of the activity, I would shout "Let's pick up trash!" or "Let's clean the ocean!" with a furrowed brow, forcing friends and juniors to participate. I think everyone felt a sense of unease at the sudden change in me, someone who used to litter. Eventually, they stopped participating. I also grew tired of calling people every time for "trash pickup." Above all, I wasn't having fun myself...

Even if you shout loudly to "pick up trash" or "clean the ocean," participating just as a favor doesn't lead to a desire to "want to go!" I worried that "the ocean won't get clean unless we reach ordinary people living in the city, rather than just those already interested in the environment."

My own "change of heart" happens when I see and experience things for myself rather than just watching the news. I thought that if people came to pick up trash even once, they would be surprised by the amount, learn that it comes from daily life, and a change of heart would occur. I wanted people living in the city to experience and feel this...

So, how could I get them to "come to the coast?" "What would it take for me?" Ideas like "If there were cute girls in swimsuits..." or "If I could eat something delicious" came to mind. In other words, people won't go there unless it looks "fun!"

But most people in the city don't surf or play in the ocean. So in 2007, the second year of Umi Sakura, I set the slogan "Aim for Japan's Most Fun Trash Pickup!" and decided to convey the current state of the ocean by letting people experience it in a non-pushy way while doing fun things at the beach!

First, I wanted to change the image of trash pickup itself. We made the trash bags cute and gave participants stamp cards; once the stamps are filled, they receive a "Trash Pickup Master T-shirt."

We also held events. A game to see who could pick up the most cigarette filters washed ashore in five minutes (explaining that drains are the entrance to the sea and the connection between the city and the ocean); an "Interesting Trash Championship" (where people announce interesting trash at the end to share what kind of items were found). Winners of each category received special Enoshima salted squid. we introduced the fashion of participants. We also planned various things like making staff meals after the pickup and relaxing while watching the sunset together.

As a result, first-timers gradually started coming, and now, at peak times, as many as 1,000 people come in a single day.

In particular, "Dosukoi Beach Clean"—born from the idea that it would be fun if active sumo wrestlers wore their mawashi to pick up trash and then wrestled with participants on the clean beach—brought many city residents. Players from the soccer team Shonan Bellmare also joined. I became friends with the then-president of Shonan Bellmare, and together with the Nippon Foundation, we launched "LEADS TO THE OCEAN" (LTO). Under the slogan "Don't let trash go to the sea!", we show videos at the stadium to the 15,000 supporters and pick up trash after home games (about 20 matches a year).

Currently, 11 teams participate in LTO, including nine J-League teams, one professional basketball team, and one professional baseball team. We conduct trash pickups about 220 times a year in various locations, conveying the current state of the ocean to approximately 2.5 million city residents.

In LTO activities, we produce and use trash bags that turn into soccer balls when filled, and those who participate many times are recognized as "Trash Pickup Masters" with certificates presented by players on the field.

In addition, we have taken on many challenges, such as building a "Nail-free Beach House" that doesn't use a single nail, creating the "Chibikko BEACH SAVER Park" on the shore because fewer children are playing in the ocean or outdoors, and picking up trash dressed as Blue Santa Claus on Marine Day. However, ocean trash has still not decreased.

The amount of trash collected on the Shonan coast in one year is equivalent to 47 Great Buddhas of Kamakura (about 6,000 tons). Naturally, the trash that flows into the sea or sinks without being collected must be many times that amount.

It is said that by 2050, there will be more trash in the ocean than fish. I fear that if things continue as they are, that will indeed happen.

In the 10th year of our activities (2015), we turned the organization into NPO Umi Sakura. At that time, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted at the UN Summit, and "Life Below Water" became one of the international goals for 2030.

Since around last year, reports like "Starbucks is eliminating plastic straws" and "Plastic bags are being eliminated in various places" have increased interest in the ocean and supported our activities. However, I have a concern that the message is being conveyed as "someone else's problem" rather than one's own. In other words, awareness stops at "Oh, Starbucks is abolishing plastic straws," and I don't think it has reached the point where individuals think, "Why are they trying to eliminate them?" or "Why are plastic bags being eliminated?"

Because the "Why?" is not being communicated, I think trash will continue to flow into the sea, leading to a disastrous ocean. Conversely, the vision of "what a wonderful sea it would be if the trash were gone" has not been visualized.

We will not let this big movement from the SDGs be a temporary fad. We will continue to carry out our "Aim for Japan's Most Fun Trash Pickup!" activities while clearly explaining the "Why?" and the "Future Map of the Ocean."

I would be happy if you could soon direct that small Ultraman spirit still in the corner of your hearts toward the ocean and nature, saying "Don't let trash go to the sea!" The ocean does not belong to humans alone; it belongs to everyone else, including fish and seabirds. I don't want to be in a situation where trash comes out when cleaning a fish. Trash will eventually return to the children of the future. If we're going to do it, it has to be now!