Japanese national cleans Baguio overpass daily; sets admirable example

Mazakasa Nose, cleaning the overpass (from the Facebook page of Celayca Aviles)

Mazakasa Nose – a Japanese national living in the City of Baguio, where he is studying English – is turning heads and earning nods of approval from the residents of the Philippines’ Summer Capital. He is also, albeit not intentionally, putting many to shame.

Nose spends his mornings doing something that perhaps none of Baguio’s residents have thought to do: he volunteers his time and energy cleaning the Maharlika Tiongsan overpass. Armed with a pair of tongs and a garbage bag, the diligent man daily goes up the overpass to pick-up and dispose of what litterbugs have left behind.

“Mabuti pa ang ibang lahi may malasakit. Samantalang iyong mga dumadaan naman sa overpass na mahilig magtapon ng kung saan, walang pakialam. Nakakahiyang isipin ibang lahi pa ang naglilinis sa mga kalat natin, (Foreign nationals seem to have more compassion. Whereas those who use the overpass are in the habit of throwing their garbage anywhere, they don’t care. It is shameful to think that a foreign national cleans up after us.), “said Facebook user Celayca Aviles, whose November 27 post about Nose is gaining much attention on social media.

As of this writing, Celayca’s post has been shared close to 600 times, and had been featured in numerous blogs and online news sites.

Several Facebook users who commented on Celayca’s post noted that this discipline and clesnliness is a way of life in Japan.

In one of the comments, Aviles pointed out that Nose should be a “good and example and a challenge to us” all.

Discipline and orderliness play a very important role in Japan’s society and culture. These traits are are inculcated in Japanese at a very young age via the “5S” System: Seiri (Tidiness, as in throwing away all unwanted things and rubbish); Seiton (Orderliness as in each thing should have a defined place and kept in its place); Seiso (Cleanliness, which mean each person should maintain clean surroundings); Seiketsu (Standardization of the manner of maintaining cleanliness); and Shitsuke (Discipline, which involves adhering to the first 4 “S’s” on a daily basis.)

Mazakasa Nose, cleaning the overpass (from the Facebook page of Celayca Aviles)