Garbage Sorting in Japan: Find Your Local Calendar

Garbage sorting in Japan starts with your home address. Find your municipality's current collection calendar and item list, then confirm your home's collection point and set-out timing.

Quick Answer

1. Find your calendar: Match your written address to the municipality's collection area and check the calendar's coverage dates.
2. Confirm your collection point: Ask the landlord, manager, school, or housing provider which site you use and how any building storage works.
3. Record each category: Save its collection dates, set-out time, bag or container requirements, and preparation instructions.
4. Look up exceptions: Check bulky items, batteries, and appliances before putting them with routine household waste.

Official sources checked: October 11, 2026. This guide covers household waste for residents; your municipality and housing contact resolve the rules for your address. For the rest of your arrival setup, use the first-month checklist.

1. Find the Right Official Collection Calendar

Start with the full address in Japanese from your lease or move-in sheet: municipality, ward where applicable, neighborhood, 丁目 (chome), block or street number, building, and unit. Keep it available when asking for help. If you're unsure which municipality covers it, ask your housing contact.

Search using the municipality's name:

• [municipality] ごみ 収集日 — garbage collection days
• [municipality] ごみ 分別 — garbage sorting
• [municipality] 粗大ごみ — bulky garbage

Open the municipality's official website and follow its waste links. If a calendar, search tool, or booking service is on another domain, check that the municipality links to it. Look for English or other language options, while keeping the current Japanese page available for notices and item names.

A sorting leaflet explains what belongs in each category; a calendar tells you when that category is collected. Save both. Match any ward, neighborhood, chome, or number range to your address. Check the calendar's start and end dates, then look for holiday and year-end changes before adding reminders. Bookmark the official page so you can check updates.

Shinjuku example: match the address row

From Shinjuku's waste gateway, open the address-based collection table, currently labeled 令和8年度 (FY2026). It lists collection-site addresses: match your designated site's neighborhood and number subdivision. Ask your housing contact if its address differs from your home's. Open the linked calendar and check its coverage dates. For partial-area or * rows, contact the office identified on the page to confirm the schedule.

2. Confirm Where and When to Put It Out

Ask your housing contact to show you the collection point and explain storage-room hours or other building arrangements. If waste is stored inside, ask who takes it to the pickup point. Use the rental guide for other move-in questions.

Shinjuku's collection-site guidance describes shared sites established through local arrangements. Confirm which one serves your home before using a nearby pile or enclosure.

Use this table to get your own instructions:

What to confirm	Where to find it	Who can resolve uncertainty
Collection point used by your household	Move-in sheet, building notice, site sign	Landlord, manager, or housing provider; municipal collection office
Storage access hours and who takes bags outside	Building instructions and housing contact	Manager, school, or housing operator
Municipal set-out deadline and permitted day	Official collection rules and site notice	Municipal collection office
Bags, containers, and any required labels	Local sorting guide and building instructions	Collection office; manager for building supplies
Preparation for the exact item	Official item list and current special-item notice	Collection office
Each category's dates and calendar period	Address-based calendar; community collection notice where relevant	Collection office or named community organizer
Special booking, payment, and placement	Municipality's bulky-item or excluded-item page	Named booking service or responsible office

A building room's access hours and the municipal set-out deadline are separate checks. If the notices conflict, ask the manager and collection office to clarify how the building's arrangement fits the collection rules.

Yokohama example: check community collection too

Yokohama's waste hub links collection days by ward and separates community paper and cloth collection. Confirm the paper/cardboard pickup's own dates and location with the site notice or organizer. Under Yokohama's collection rules, sorted waste goes to the designated site by 8 a.m. on collection day; previous-night and after-collection set-out are prohibited. The site sticker or neighborhood contact helps confirm days. These are Yokohama's instructions; check your own municipality's timing.

3. Use the Local Item List

These labels help you navigate a municipal guide:

• 燃やすごみ: burnable garbage
• 燃えないごみ: non-burnable garbage
• 資源: recyclable resources
• プラスチック資源: plastic resources
• ペットボトル: PET bottles
• 粗大ごみ: bulky or oversized garbage

Use the local guide to see what each category includes and which are collected together. For example, Shinjuku's item dictionary warns that material and size can change an item's classification. Search for the actual item, read its notes, and check relevant newer notices. A plastic object's appearance or packaging symbol alone does not establish its route.

Before sorting, check the instructions for emptying or rinsing, caps and labels, bundling paper, and bag or container choice. Apply those requirements to the item and category specified locally.

Read ordinal weekdays carefully

Shinjuku's collection table schedules metal, ceramic, and glass waste on the first and third, or second and fourth, occurrence of a weekday each month, with no fifth-occurrence pickup. For a “first and third Wednesday” entry, count Wednesdays in that month. A reminder repeating every 14 days can drift from this schedule; record the actual dates from the calendar.

4. Arrange Bulky Items and Other Exceptions

Bulky garbage: book before setting it out

Size thresholds vary. Shinjuku's bulky-item procedure generally covers items with a side exceeding about 30 cm. Yokohama's procedure uses a longest side of at least 30 cm for metal items and 50 cm for other materials. Check the exact item and exclusions before arranging disposal.

1. Confirm eligibility: Check the item, material, dimensions, and any battery against the official instructions.
2. Book: Follow the municipal page's application link or named contact. Shinjuku and Yokohama require advance arrangements and a charge.
3. Confirm the details: Save the collection date, placement, deadline, current fee, payment method, and any required sticker or identification. Confirm these before buying disposal tickets.
4. Set out as booked: Follow the confirmed instructions. Shinjuku's placement can differ from the ordinary collection site; dismantling an item does not remove its bulky-item classification.

Arrange this before your housing handover date. For an international move, use the leaving-Japan checklist for the other departure tasks.

Appliances and computers: check the separate route

Shinjuku's bulky-item exclusions and Yokohama's excluded-item guidance route air conditioners, TVs, refrigerators/freezers, washing machines/clothes dryers, and computers away from ordinary bulky-item collection. Follow the municipal link to the responsible retailer, manufacturer, or service. A bulky sticker alone does not make an excluded item eligible.

Batteries and products containing them

Check the battery type, product, size, and condition against current local instructions:

• Separate rechargeable batteries and power banks: Shinjuku's instructions collect eligible items on its resource day. Yokohama's battery instructions specify a separate battery bag on burnable-garbage days. Sharing a day does not mean mixing batteries into burnable waste.
• Products with embedded batteries: Use the product-specific route. Yokohama's embedded-battery notice, updated October 9, 2026, gives separate instructions for these devices. Keep preparation details with that notice; do not force a battery out.
• Damaged or swollen batteries: Both municipalities' battery pages give separate handling routes. Ask the responsible collection office about your item before set-out or transport.

If an item is unclear or a bag is left behind

Read any collection notice or sticker. Give the manager or municipal collection office your address, item name, material, dimensions, and the notice's wording; ask which instruction applies. Follow the correction they specify; do not move the bag to another site's pile. Find the official contact under 問い合わせ (inquiries) on the waste page; Yokohama provides a collection-office directory.

5. Save a Household Reference

Keep a private note containing:

• Your address area, official calendar and item-list links, and calendar coverage period.
• The confirmed collection point, storage access, and who moves bags outside.
• Each category's dates, set-out deadline, bag/container rules, and preparation.
• Separate paper/cardboard or other community collection arrangements.
• The exception contact and any bulky-item booking confirmation.
• The date you checked the instructions.

Recheck after moving or receiving a municipal change notice. Save this alongside your electricity, gas, and water arrangements for home setup.

FAQ

How do I find my garbage collection days?

Match your address to the current municipal calendar and confirm any subdivision or marked exception. Check the designated site's notice too; paper or cloth community collection may have separate dates.

Can I use the apartment garbage room at any time?

Ask the manager for its access and storage rules, including who moves waste to the pickup point. Confirm the municipality's set-out timing separately.

Is bulky garbage collected with normal waste?

Book it separately through the local procedure. Shinjuku and Yokohama require advance arrangements; follow your confirmed payment, date, and placement instructions.

What if my municipality has no English waste page?

Use the official Japanese page with translation help, retaining item names and address details. Ask your housing contact or the municipal support desk for help confirming unclear instructions. The official-help directory can help you find the responsible desk; check its available languages before contacting it.