As I start writing this post I am already onto my 2nd cup of coffee, remarkable only because it's only 9am, and I've been up for 2 hours already. On a Sunday.
Gomi Zero can be read as Zero Rubbish or as a go-mi-zero (5-3-0). It's a play on words. Every year, on or around 30 May, Gomi Zero is held.
Every year throughout Japan on Gomi Zero Day, residents are invited/press-ganged into picking up rubbish to help beautify the country. A lovely idea, as I'm sure you'll agree! Mine however starts very early (supposedly from 8am, but actually from 7:40am each year).
This year the selected day was today, because 29th May is a Sunday and so most people have the day off. However, I was secretly hoping it wouldn't happen because heavy rain was forecast due to an approaching typhoon... At 6:45 I woke up, and noticed it was raining but not too heavily. Sigh. No lie-in perhaps. It would go ahead if it was only light rain. Perhaps this was light enough. A check of the 10minute rain forecast of my area for the next hour showed it was going to vary between light and heavy rain, with more typhoon like rain predicted for later in the day. OK, probably won't happen, but I'd better get showered and dressed.
At 7:30 in one of the heavy rain intervals, the announcements started through the city loudspeaker. Ah, I really need to improve my Japanese. As I was listening, I could pick up some but not all of it. 'Good morning... after a lot of discussion this morning... please'. Surely.... Surely they can't mean...?! But then in neighbouring houses shutters were opened, and people started popping out with umbrellas and wellies. Plainly everyone else wasn't sure it was going to be cancelled either. Mutterings of 'but it's raining... I'm surprised... amazing eh... It's not going ahead in neighbouring X-city and Y-city... Can't be helped...' were heard.
And so, armed with a big umbrella in the bucketing rain, but coffee-less, I walked down the road with my neighbours for the cheery introductions, and doling out of gloves. We were instructed just to clean around the front of our own houses. Everyone's thought of 'but but but it's clean' was mostly unheard. Umbrellas in one hand, people picked up leaves, and tiny weeds for a full 10-15 minutes of show, and then started gathering again and talking. At 8:30 it was considered the right time to walk back down the road to be thanked and officially dismissed. Have no idea what was said really, partly because it was raining so heavily on a nearby tin shed, but they seemed to talk about the summer picnic (to be avoided) and thanked everyone a lot for coming together despite the bad conditions.
Then there was the invitation for the retrospective bribe of a can of drink, and a not exactly polite scrum for the cans of beer, I was too slow so only got a can of coffee.
Exchanged the 'thank you for your hard work' with my neighbours. Then home to put on the kettle and change and dry out.
So that was how my morning started. Gomi Zero 2011 in heavy rain. Rather nice really.
