Tokyo and tech through the eyes of a split pea

Junk for sale

As Terrie Lloyd comments on this week, junk sells, and seems to be a growing business. With high product turnover rates, the Japanese probably discard some of the newest, cleanest junk. And finding a taker is actually really easy. Just this past year, I’ve helped get rid of a long couch, filing cabinet, and 15″ TV. In some cases, simply placing it out on the street with a sign that reads “Take me!” does the trick. The couch was a big surprise — out in the morning, gone by the evening. Someone must have borrowed a truck just for the purpose. The main impetus for simply giving away such large items is that throwing it away costs the discarder. Government supporting a means that is cheaper to throw trash by the wayside than to discard properly seems a bit backwards. But this is Japan after all :)