GUADALUPE, Mexico - Japanese supporters cleaning up the stands after a match has long been talked about at World Cups and Samurai Blue manager Hajime Moriyasu on Friday gave his view on the custom.
"I think it really is a culture that Japan can be proud of," he said during a press conference at Estadio Monterrey in Mexico, where Japan take on Tunisia in their second Group F game on Saturday.
"I believe lots of our people know the phrase of making the place cleaner than when you arrived, and our team clean the place before we depart (after matches) too."
Moriyasu, who both as a player and manager has long interacted with football personnel from around the world, revealed there was a time when he was told he was taking away people's jobs by picking up trash.
"That's one way of thinking, but Japanese in general have the concept of making places cleaner and I believe we're people who don't throw away trash here and there," he said. "I don't think it would take all their jobs away (either)."
"I think the Japanese are people who always help each other and cooperate. After our training in Nashville (in Tennessee) yesterday, the (local) person in charge of pitch maintenance joined us in clearing up the place with that Japanese mentality."
The match between Japan and Tunisia, the 1,000th in World Cup history, will take place with the countries this year marking the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
"It'd be great if people around the world can feel that the two countries, their people and different cultures are being connected by football," he said.
