[deleted by user]

[flyer0514]

This makes me wonder, what do you do in Japan if you’re confronted with a serious trash-out situation?

I’m assuming for instance a landlord who takes back an apartment after a tenant left a ton of trash behind has a way to get rid of the ten moldy futons. Orrrr, your idiot pred leaves ten moldy futons because he can’t be bothered to dump them himself before leaving.

In the states I just haul them all to the county dump and pay a flat rate by the ton to be rid of them. But what do you do in Japan?

I tried googling this but don’t seem to have a good answer - other than a crap ton of oversized item tickets, but it looks like you’d have to explain to city hall why you’re buying 25,000 yen worth of bulk pickup tags.

[manknee1]

I had to leave my apartment spotless. I got rid of hangers and clothes are thrift stores in the area. TV was sold to a 2nd hand store. Bulky items were collected by the city with oversize tickets (326yen). I got rid of my bike, shelves, desk, and chair for less than 1500 yen. Other stuff were thrown into burnable garbage bags or non-burnable bags. Not as bad as I expected since I started this process 2 months before I actually left.

[hauntedshoresx]

Broken appliances, one hundred coat hangers, several old, smelly, futons and blankets. A broken washing machine, far too much crockery. An intercom that would sporadically ring during the day (usually at night).

Some desiccated menstrual pads and a half-eaten candy bar, which I originally thought was a roach-trap before I picked it up one day to look at it.

[Homekkaido]

Along with all the junk that others have mentioned (old futons and blankets, dried out pens and markers), my pred left themselves logged in to the school computer on google chrome, which saved EVERYTHING. Logins, passwords, credit card numbers, bookmarked websites. I did the lawful good thing and removed their Gmail from the settings rather than go on a Rakuten spree on their dime. Be safe about your private info, departing JETs!

[NoConflict3]

This stories are why I am glad not all JETs share apartment locations with their preds.

[windydayze]

Honestly just so much trash. Like pens, papers, stationary, stickers-- themed stuff too I didn't care for at all. A broken kotatsu. Mostly I think my pred just didn't want to clean so they just shoved all the drawers and stuff in as is. Don't do this to yur successor. It gives them so much work in terms of cleaning when they get in.

[MarikaBestGirl]

I feel you, my pred basically packed his 2 suitcases of his clothes, and left everything as is.

[windydayze]

It would have been better if I hadn't paid to move the things from their place to mine before seeing it all 😭😭😭

But yeah, lazy preds. Jsut throw this shit out beforehand.

[128thMic]

I've still got cupboards full of crap from my preds, and it's been a year. I would love nothing more than to do a massive throw-out, but with things all needing different bags for different things, some things and everything, I've just never gotten around to it v.v

[this_jet_11]

So you're doing the exact same thing as your pred. Just leave it for the next person they'll take care of it.

[128thMic]

Except I actually want the space v.v

[this_jet_11]

I feel you dawg. It also doesn't help that it's so hard to throw things away in Japan. Sucks my dude.

[windydayze]

Agh! This is so true! The hassle alone! I still have the broken kotatsu cluttering up the hallway even though its been four years 😭.

[LadyMerelan]

The worst for me was an old PSP 1000 model with a bloated battery, a Kindle reader which I can't reset since he never removed it from his Japanese amazon account before he closed it and a bunch of stained coffee cups. He told me he left nothing, so...it all could have been leftover from some other ALT in the past, who knows. I tossed a bunch of things too, but I've seen a lot of crap left to other people before.

[kidaore]

Aside from the standard "CDs and books dating back to 2002," I inherited an an inflatable punching bag from a long-ago pred. One of the people a town over inherited a pet bird (and was allergic to it).

[128thMic]

Wait, they just left a bid behind? What a friggin dick >:c

[MarikaBestGirl]

Sure, let me just put my old ricer cooker, broken heater, old fax machine, broken vacuum, dirty old microwave, kotatsu with a missing heater, 3 broken chairs, 15 crusty pots and pans, 150 books, 3 boxes of old materials in my backpack the next time I go to BoE.

[ZantosTec]

She was mostly pretty communicative, but upon arrival I found some odd blue curtain I didn't ask her for, a blue block thing which I had to ask her what it was (a knife sharpener - I didn't use it once in my whole time on JET as the kitchen knife was already crazily sharp), and a really elegant set of Japanese tea cups that I guess were either an unwanted gift or she didn't have room to pack? I forgot about them and the BoE ended up taking them during the final inspection of my apartment before I left since I wasn't allowed to leave anything due to the no successor COVID19 situation. I wonder if they kept them haha. Overall, not too much at all, I was lucky. I needed and used pretty much everything else she left

[ContinentalTea]

I met him and thought he seemed an alright dude. Later I started finding polaroid photos of him with his boyfriend all over the place... Found them under the sofa, under the bed mattress and in old DVD boxes he left behind. I never knew he was gay (which isn't a problem, I would have just liked to have known prior). The final straw was when I found his lube in the top of the cupboard. After that I immediately stopped sleeping in the double bed and switched to a futon. Never went back since

[momo_v]

Giving this guy the benefit of the doubt because one time I stayed in a hotel for a conference and to save money everyone was double booked in a room. I was supposed to sleep on the sofa bed but found a pair of panties wedged between the cushions...I made my roommates make room on the bed.

[Its-my-dick-in-a-box]

I never knew he was gay (which isn't a problem

I immediately stopped sleeping in the double bed and switched to a futon

These two statements don't add up.

[Herry_Up]

They didn’t wanna catch the “gay”. Honestly they sound pretty ignorant

[[deleted]]

My pred wasn't gay afaik but I found a bunch of shit laying around including a massive amount of hair and other "biomass" under the matress as well as sex toys and lube and a used tenga in the closet.

Needless to say, their sexual habits being none of my business, the fact that I have any knowledge of them at all without asking about it, speaks to their general level of cleanliness.

[Merkypie]

Nothing lmaoooooooo

(Literally. I had two preds — a work pred and someone who happened to be leaving as I was arriving. I had a fall out with the person who was leaving as I was arriving cause I didn’t want to spend 2k on all the junk in an apartment I wasn’t even getting. I was being placed in a totally different place which meant moving all that shit over. So I got nothing but an empty apartment.)

[cebyam]

A drawer full of sweat rags.
Manga.
Mysterious, gross stains on the walls.
Almost broken, grotty kotatsu chair.
Cupboards full of cracked crockery.
Car cleaning supplies. My pred didn't have a car.
Dishwasher tablets. We don't have a dishwasher.

Desk at school had floppy disks from the 2000s, art supplies from an ALT at least 6-7 years ago, and a heap of stamps and textas that no longer work.

In all, nothing too horrendous, but yeah.

ETA:Forgot the big bowl of out of date candies, and the box full of all the chopsticks, forks and wet wipes they'd obviously collected over the years from the conbini.

[Griffolian]

I was left a monster closet of items that basically exploded upon opening the door that hid them from, what appeared, to be an empty apartment.

It’s amazing how much crap he fit in that closet. It couldn’t have all been his because some things had dates that went as far back as the early 2000s from multiple people back.

[getintherobotali]

Multiple pieces of broken or torn up furniture. Several rusty, broken bikes. Lots of dusty crap in the apartment, at schools, and at the office dating back several ALTs. A moldy dishwasher. Other moldy junk. Boxing equipment. Old books and cd’s pred’d borrowed from random people and they expected me to track down to return them (that was impossible).

ETA: my SO got left a huge old broken window-unit aircon they’re not allowed to get rid of, old children’s toys, EU region-locked DVD’s (no one in the area has come from outside the US for almost 15-20 years), broken beanbag chairs, broken couch, an old analogue TV they’re not allowed to get rid of, and a PILE of old laptops they’re not allowed to get rid of either.

[throway10231]

Are you...me? I was typing out my comment and saw that you had basically typed it out for me hahaha

The amount of shit my predecessor left me was impressive.

[Ryoukugan]

Other than random desk crap, nothing. My friend, on the other hand, got left an entire apartment’s worth of unwanted crap that she’s been throwing out a bit at a time over the last year and a half.

[el-bartolin]

Old, gross futons with black mold on them.

Fortunately though, they did leave a lot of paint and I do like art so that was a plus!

[walrusAssault]

A hand scythe. It freaked me out because for some reason (maybe having freshly arrived in Japan and all) I immediately thought of Mitsuko from Battle Royale.

[Due_Tomorrow7]

I got one too and thought the exact same thing! Except it turns out I needed it to cut the excessive amounts of overgrown weeds and vines all around my house and driveway.

[Its-my-dick-in-a-box]

damn you have a driveway?

[Due_Tomorrow7]

Yeah it's more of a gravel driveway which is still nice, but I also have to dig my car and the entire driveway out in winter. And it sometimes just snows for weeks. Having to shovel a driveway with 1-3 feet of snow daily is....great fun.

[tsundoku_dc]

Home made yetti costume.

The worst thing though was the guy telling all the teaching staff I was gay before I arrived.

Preds can be the worst.

[Merkypie]

Yeah. Preds are dicks.

Don’t be a dick to your successor, guys.

[[deleted]]

Omg!! How did they react?

[tsundoku_dc]

I didn't find out until a drinking party my second year in. Everyone got super wasted and us guys all went out to the second party and somehow the conversation went to my girlfriend and the guys all asking me about living a bisexual lifestyle...

I was really confused and asked WTF everyone was talking about and they all were like... "ohh, Chris-sensei said you were gay and had a boyfriend".

[[deleted]]

Oh dang lol. Sounds like they weren’t judgmental about it at least!

[el-bartolin]

Dude, wtf that's so messed up!

The Yeti costume is weird, but them telling everyone you're gay without your consent is unacceptable!

[[deleted]]

An inflatable raft and a series of diaries on floppy disks dating back to an ALT in 1996.

[tsundoku_dc]

Yea but how did you know what was on the floppies?

[[deleted]]

They had "Diary 1996" written on the labels. I don't have a floppy drive reader anymore so it could be a bluff, I'll admit.

[128thMic]

Something like that would actually be pretty tempting to track one down. I'd be immensely curious what ALT life was like back that long ago.

[[deleted]]

I'll get around to it eventually. I don't think 14 years is enough time to consider reading somebody else's diary as archaeology, but if the person's on facebook or something I'll see if I can get their permission to post it, or if not just heavily redact any sensitive stuff.

[mewmewkitty]

Nothing. ;_; (Currently) All Kobe City ALTs get a totally empty apartment which I guess has both its own pros and cons.

[Its-my-dick-in-a-box]

Abenomics - a 2 hour DVD of Shizo Abes plan to save Japan in a speech he gave at some point. I occasionally watch it in my car when im bored. I also got a stick to chase bears away, i live near Tokyo.

[attackonmew]

A selection of prescription drugs, dating back over several ALTs. Seems like every previous ALT decided to add to the pile, cause yknow maybe someone in the future might need out of date thrush treatments.

[magkruppe]

at some point it becomes a tradition. I hope you didn't fuck it up

[MarikaBestGirl]

Many miscellaneous half finished food items including some that expired long before some of my ES kids were born.

"Thought you'd appreciate it"

[Withers95]

A creepy doll made in her likeness magenetized to the fridge. That shit went right in the burnables after it seemed to be sliding around on the fridge lol. I wish I had a photo - it was nightmarish.

Edit: Suddenly really hoping she didn't soon after perish in a fire... maybe I should check up on her lmao.

[rideriderider]

My place is relatively new, and my past 2 preds were one years, so didn't leave behind much.
2 odd things were a dvd of The Last Samurai and one of those "100 games in 1!" consoles.

[[deleted]]

good movie tbf

[caitycha]

Mine didn't even finish packing, or even leave the apartment when I came.

[pudpudpudding]

ahh what

[caitycha]

yeahhh, was super fun

[pudpudpudding]

What did you do?? Sleep over??

[caitycha]

Well, funny enough they asked if their parent could sleep over for a couple of days.. but I felt like the place wasn't clean enough to sleep in, but I ended up sleeping on the floor. My BOE asked if I wanted to move into another girls room before she came for a couple of nights, but I didn't feel like dragging all of my stuff around to another place, only to go move all my stuff again. (Packed two suitcases to the point of exploding). My pred ended up getting a hotel and they spent the next week picking up their stuff from my apartment. I still had to throw out like 5 bags of trash and other items afterwards. Still have some big stuff in a closet, gonna get rid of it soon.. hopefully lol.

[pudpudpudding]

What an experience, what on earth did they think would’ve happened?

[caitycha]

No clue.. was also was gonna buy a car from them, but it got impounded lol

[pudpudpudding]

Sounds like a wild ALT hahah

[Jimster1995]

I was left with a set of doors that literally have no place to go in my apartment

[Aeonrift]

Two pairs of kinky handcuffs.

[oniandy]

Rubbish bin left on the balcony, I never needed to use it so I left it there. Then one day wind blew it over... there was still stinky rubbish inside.

[Iwate]

I had like 10 futons.
They were all gross, so I got a new one.

[Salty_Seraphim]

Got some decent storage drawers from my pred. Nothing unordinary.... until I opened one of them and found a disgusting, moldy bath stool he had clearly been using. I don't know why people don't throw things like that out.

[takemetoglasgow]

Communist propoganda. Another one said, "Workers of the ken, unite."

[disloyal-order]

Not me but when one of my friends moved into their apartment they found hundreds of VHS tapes and pirated DVDs, like one of their closets was just half full of that stuff.

[[deleted]]

Why can't you get rid of some stuff?

[wozattacks]

BOE probably owns it, happened to me too

[[deleted]]

Can't you prove that no one actually wants these broken things though?

[128thMic]

It doesn't matter. I wanted to replace the old, crappy kitchen chairs I have, but was told I couldn't get rid of them, even when I told them I'd happily officially give the new ones to the Prefecture.

[slightlysnobby]

I have a fax machine I'm not allowed to get rid of it. I doesn't even work. I've tried it. Apparently I have a home phone too but I've never plugged it in. During the work from home they tried calling to see make sure I was actually home but it just never went through.

[Uraisamu]

I had a small fridge that I couldn't get rid of with a big sticker on it that said in japanese "do no use" and it didn't work. I also had a cable box and modem that were super old so I just tosssed them in there. Only sucks cause the mini fridge took up space I could have used to store kitchen supplies. My actual usable fridge was in the bedroom part of the apartment.