“It’s perhaps difficult to expect the park to remain empty of trash cans forever,” he said.
With cultural differences in mind, Nara authorities are trialling high-tech, solar-powered bins near the park in a 20-million-yen ($129,000) project.
The bins can automatically compress trash and bear the slogan: “Save the Nara deer from plastic waste”.
Public bins are scarce across Japan, with one theory being that the deadly 1995 subway sarin gas attacks by a doomsday cult caused them to be removed.
Gawel Golecki, a 40-year-old from Poland who regularly visits Japan, told AFP he now keeps his trash with him.
“It’s kind of strange for us,” he told AFP. “(In Europe) there is always a place to throw” it.
French tourist Arnaud Bielecki, 56, said it’s “a shame that the deer eat plastic dropped by visitors”, adding that the Beautiful Deer squad should be supported.
“I’m glad there’s a programme like this,” he said.
© 2025 AFP
