and I don't know why this isn't a challenge on YouTube yet.

So, we're doing it.

Japan is well known for being a clean country

but even here there are trouble spots.

Especially at beaches like this

This is Shikanoshima Beach and it's

actually the same beach Jun just filmed for his most recent video

and yet right now, only a month later, it looks like this.

We did some digging to find out why.

And it turns out the department that keeps this specific beach clean, the

fishing port section, generally only has the budget to hire a cleaning company

once a year right before tourist season.

For the rest of the year its cleanup

relies mostly on volunteers like us

So we joined forces with local sustainability magazine CICLO

to host a group cleanup.

I've tried to recruit as many of my friends as possible.

This is Dean from RunAway. Hi guys.

He came all the way from Tokyo with his family to help out.

This is the only weekend he could make it so we're doing our own cleanup today

and then we'll be back next week (or for you guys later this video) with a

much larger army of people

I'm gonna make a shell castle.

A shell castle? All right, that sounds really cool.

You work on that; I have to go film a little bit. Okay.

I'll come back later just check your progress. Yeah.

And then if we have time

can we make it? Yes.

Together? ABSOLUTELY.

I will totally help you.

So this is what we're gonna try to clean up today

today as much as we can clean up with two adults and a six-year-old child.

It's a coconut! Yeah!

It's pretty heavy.

It's so hard.

I think I'm just gonna leave the camera here for now and see what we can get done!

[A million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute.]

We've been at this a couple hours and one of the things

we learned real quick is that we picked one of the worst spots to start

because this is like a pile of driftwood

so you have to dig down to get all of this plastic

and trash out but

everything is too small to realistically be able to get

all of it. There's just no way we can pick this

stuff up a hand.

The tide is starting to rise so some of the trash has been

getting swept out to sea.

I've been trying to pull some of this stuff out of the tide zone before it gets swept back out.

It's really depressing sitting here and watching all

of the plastic floating in the waves.

And then people are just bringing their family

over here with their kids playing in the water just walking around all of the trash.

It's just a little demoralizing.

It's adorable.

Wildlife.

That's the best thing I've seen. Yeah, right?

That beats picking up messy containers and stuff. Right.

All right, so we are calling it a day.

This is our trash pile.

Some of this stuff we got, like...

This frickin rope is massive.

It's literally wider than my hand.

Keiji, do you wanna show everything we got?

Nice! You look cool!

[The equivalent of a garbage truck full of plastic enters the ocean every minute.]

All right, so we're back with our larger group.

I think we've got about 40 people here right now, which is amazing.

Awesome.

The local City Hall was really supportive of our

event and provided us with hundreds of bags as well as numerous tools, drinks,

and also agreed to pick up and dispose of the trash we collected.

Shout out to my amazing friends who helped make this event happen.

So my name is Melisa.

We wanted to kind of get a community going related to sustainability and environmental issues here

so thank you all for coming today.

Are there any Japanese people here today?

Oh, there are quite a few!

So everyone else understands English?

Okay, just those two people.

I can yell.

We're sorting everything into two different types of trash today:

burnables and non-burnables.

We've got a lot of work to do.

Also some people showed up to play ball.

Maybe we can influence them, you know?

Maybe we can drag them into cleaning up with us.

The beach starts down at this fence

On the other side is like a little harbor.

So we're gonna be starting here and then just going as far as we can.

All right, well let's get started!

[9% of plastic is recycled 12% is incinerated 79% ends up in landfills or the environment]

Rachel, look at this.

This can explode.

Wow, this is crazy.

And these plastic bottles we can't even recycle because it's too dirty.

[46% of plastic in the ocean is from fishing nets and lines]

Hi, how's it going? Hi.

I think we're gonna need more bags. Yeah, I think so, too.

I don't think 400 is enough.

I went camping in Oshima and I felt exactly the same,

that there's so much garbage. It's really sad.

But this is worse.

That bag already seems to be full. Yup!

We need to get more awareness, like Know/NO more plastics.

Oh, I love your shirt!

The mask is because I have a slight cold.

Oh, okay. You came here even though you're sick?

Just slightly, yeah.

Thank you so much, man.

No, I mean, there's not many opportunities to do this, so

I'm happy to help out.

What even is this?

[By 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean (by weight) than fish]

Do you do these cleanups every now and then?

I do a cleanup in the Philippines every year.

Oh wow, really? Thank you for coming.

What do you think about this beach?

Is it worse than you though it'd be?

It's cleaner than I expected.

This is CLEANER than you thought it'd be?!

Yeah, the one I do every year in the Philippines is terrible.

Worse than this? Worse than this.

Thank you.

Your bag is already full.

I'm amazed how much trash there is.

Me too.

There's way more here than I thought there'd be. Same.

I'm really motivated. Thank you.

It's been like 10 minutes and your bag is already full.

Yes.

My concern, more than the ocean, is actually the river.

The rivers in Fukuoka are really dirty.

There's lots of trash floating in them. That's what Ryo told me, too.

Yeah, and I'd really love to do something in the rivers.

Woah, there's a tire here.

What is that? There's a tire, right?

This is a tire, right? Oh my-

How do we...

I think we have to dig it.

We got a shovel. I can get you a shovel.

Okay, yeah we need a shovel. Yeah, we do. We definitely do.

The beach off-season is so dirty!

Especially after typhoons.

I'm subscribed to your channel- Thank you very much

and I saw the message about this event.

I asked my husband if he would go and he said yes so we came today.

Thank you! I wouldn't have come by myself.

How is it?

It's so much worse than I thought.

I came here in the summer and it wasn't like this.

So I guess there were people cleaning it.

Well now you're one of them!

Thank you!

Yoroshiku onegaishimasu

I wasn't expecting like huge bits of everyday rubbish.

I was expecting a lot of like plastic bottles and cigarettes

but there are a lot of like... shoes

and laundry baskets and just things you don't expect to see on the beach.

Yeah, exactly.

It's kind of surprising how deep they go as well.

I know, I just found a tire over there. Yeah, exactly.

We need a shovel.

And you might pick up something like this, think "oh it stops here" but it keeps going.

Okay, this one doesn't keep going but you know.

Oh, watch out, watch out

Thanks

I thought it was pretty bad for a Japanese beach, sure.

It's intense.

I don't know if this many people will be enough. I hope they will be.

We'll do our best to clean up.

Thank you so much.

And if there are other events, I really want to know about it

so I can join every one of them.

I think it's really important. Thank you.

Organizer Ryo-kun

Yes

How's it going?

I'm amazed at how many people showed up.

Yeah, it's really great.

But even with this many people I don't think we can clean it all.

I'd like to keep organizing cleanups.

Totally agreed. Let's do it!

So you were born and raised in Fukuoka. Right.

But this is worse than you thought?

Yeah, I didn't know it was this bad.

I'm embarrassed. Really.

I'd like to continue organizing this event so

please join us if you get a chance again.

Is that your child?

Yes.

You came to clean the beach with your child on your back??

Thank you so much.

Are you okay? It's not tiring?

My lower back hurts a little.

Please take a break in between.

Thank you.

I haven't come this side of the beach.

I was shocked how dirty it is here.

I actually really wanted to go to this beach.

I've been here a couple of times around

but it's actually just too dirty to be here.

You just can't relax with all the garbage around here.

Is this your first time at a cleanup? Yes, it's my first time.

Thank you for coming today.

I want to come back again.

Oh really? Thank you!

It's probably a little worse than normal because of the typhoons.

There's a lot of different stuff.

There's a lot. What is this?

I found a small wood piece from a grave that has a person's name on it.

I wonder where it came from.

I left it by the tent.

Oh okay, thank you.

It was way dirtier than I thought.

People only see the sea but this dirty beach should be seen.

Who can enjoy the sea with this much trash on the beach?

Thank you for cleaning the beach.

I'm happy that this event is here.

Because like, when I go to the beach I take like one or two pieces of trash with me.

But this is like...

Yeah, we try to make this a monthly event.

So hopefully we can keep cleaning.

Yeah, I definitely think that's a good idea.

I saw the announcement of this event and made me want to do something for environment.

This event is a good idea.

I'd like to keep joining the cleanup.

We're planning to do this regularly.

I'd love to join you.

Is this tug of war?

Look at the path they made. I know!

When you're digging through sand you only use these muscles

and they hurt SO BAD.

I am WEAK.

You said you wanted energy shot, right?

I got Yunker.

Want some coffee?

Ummm thanks, pass.

Hard pass.

Ah, non-burnable.

There's something really big over there.

Again?

You guys got it. Good job.