Gomi

For all of those that live/d in Japan, i know you must all know. But for those who never lived in this country, FYI ... Japanese are crazy about their gomi (garbage). There are about forty-eight different days a month where you take out a particular kind of garbage. Batteries, home electronics, hard plastic, clear plastic, etc. And the instructions and schedules, even with all those adorable pictures ('Look Mom, the bottles all have smiling, pink faces! Its as if they don't even know they are about to be incinerated. Kawaiiiiiiiiiii!!!!), are seriously vexing. 144 hours following the second from the last Monday, given a waxing lunar position, is the day and time that you should prepare your PET bottles with the necessary oils and cleansers. However, if you should take out said PET bottles before the 144th hour, ye are surely screwed. Etcetera, Etcetera, Etcetera. Given that there really are some confusing rules about garbage collection (the next three months are particularly confusing, as the kuyakusho (ward office) changed the normal schedule), even Japanese people find it difficult to follow said rules. D'oh!