Japanese fans are making a name for themselves at the World Cup with their tidy habits. After a thrilling comeback win against Germany in Qatar four years ago, the fans made sure that everybody won by cleaning up the mess left in the arena.

A Cultural Expectation

Nozomi Morgan, an intercultural leadership expert, remembers moving from Seattle to Tokyo when she was eight years old and being surprised by the school experience. "One of the first things that really surprised me," she said, "you take off your 'outside shoes' and change into 'inside shoes,' you want to keep the inside as clean as possible."

Morgan says that through elementary and middle school, they cleaned everywhere, sweeping leaves on the stairs and even the bathrooms. "There's a saying: 'A bird that flies never leaves a trace,'" Morgan said.

A Selfless Act

Hirokazu Tsunoda, who has been attending the Olympic Games and World Cups since 2008, always helps to clean up the mess left by the supporters in the arenas. "It's not a place where you can do whatever you like simply because you paid for a ticket," he said. "For us, it's a sacred space. If something is a passion you truly care about, you don't want to leave the place that matters to you in a mess. So, you pick it up."

Tsunoda believes that selfless trash collection is the gateway to volunteering more broadly, figuring out ways to benefit everyone. He says that he's helped over 200 times at the scenes of natural disasters and, with the help of community fundraising, he's able to bring impacted children to the World Cup and give them a positive experience.

Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.