Taking out the trash in Tokyo is a complicated affair. The trash room in Gordon's apartment building has twelve different categories of trash. Not only is the recycling separated into multiple categories, but the rules go so far as to require that the plastic recyclable bottles must also be separated from their caps. The trash bins are numbered. Different categories of trash are collected on different days. Instructions on how to sort and dispose of trash are illustrated, color-coded, published, and posted on the trash room wall. And, the trash room is spotless.