I think it's worth noting that all of Japan isn't as clean as many of the cities are. A lot of people's homes are still rather dusty and when I visited in 2012

I think it's worth noting that all of Japan isn't as clean as many of the cities are. A lot of people's homes are still rather dusty and when I visited in 2012 the outskirts of Osaka and the countryside looked pretty similar to Europe in terms of how much trash there was in the ditches next to the road. The cities were noticeably cleaner than Swedish cities though, a lot fewer chewing gums and cigarette butts from what I remember.