Wow, you've been busy, Tas. :0
Moving is a pain but certainly more so in Japan.
The whole garbage system keeps things clean in Japan but one really has to get used to the schedule. My aunt is extremely fastidious about her trash. She washes it, including fast food wrappers, before throwing it out to keep away flies and bad smells. I agree it is nice to have clean trash but I guess I'm not willing to devote time and precious water to washing my trash. I just bag it tightly. (I guess I am a disgrace to my race!)
She's so strict about it that she wraps her chicken bones in plastic wrap first and I tell her that she is slowing down the decomposition of those bones and creating more plastic landfill waste but she doesn't care.
