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Volunteers Pick Up After Olympic Visitors (February 19)
"We don't want people to think Nagano is so dirty." This is the reason given by the volunteers who spend every evening walking down Chuo Street, which runs from Nagano Station to the Buddhist temple of Zenkoji, picking up trash. The street runs past Central Square, where medal award ceremonies are held for the outdoor events, and the road is blocked off to traffic, making it a pedestrian paradise. But after those people have left, their trash stays behind--especially on nights after a popular athlete has won a medal, according to the volunteers.The litter collectors are members of a group that has organized a variety of artistic and cultural events in the area around Chuo Street. Each night from 8:30 until 9:00 or so, about 10 members walk a 600-meter stretch of Chuo Street, picking up trash as they go. They first performed this service on February 6, after they discussed how terrible the litter was after the road was opened to pedestrians for the first time that day. They haven't missed a single day since then.
The stretch of road in front of Central Square, about halfway between the station and Zenkoji, sees more trash than usual on nights when Japanese or other famous athletes have received their medals. There was about 60-70% more trash on February 17, after the Japanese ski-jumping team collected their gold medals for their come-from-behind victory.
The volunteers explain why they work so hard: "This is the area that will get the most attention from our visitors from overseas and outside Nagano. We can't show them a shameful image of our hometown." The trash collectors will keep doing this important job until the Games end. (Shinano Mainichi Shimbun)