TOKYO, June 19, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Images of Samurai Blue fans cleaning up 
World Cup stadiums have garnered them widespread praise, but back in Japan, a 
post has gone viral complaining men rarely do so at home.

FIFA lauded Japanese fans this week on social media platform X for their 
"impeccable manners" that saw them tidy up the stands post-game, with 
pictures of men in blue avidly picking up trash.

Similar images have since proliferated online, but one X post went viral 
after claiming Japanese men aren't all that they are cracked up to be.

"Japanese men spend among the least time on housework internationally," read 
the post, which has been viewed 1.9 million times.

"Please do it at home," the post said, with a satirical illustration showing 
a fan who proudly cleans up the stadium is, in fact, relaxing on a sofa at 
home, oblivious to the pile of laundry and his wife or mother doing the 
dishes.

Japanese men participate notoriously little in household chores, with women 
spending 5.5 times more time than men taking on "unpaid work" such as 
shopping, domestic chores and caregiving, the Cabinet Office says, citing 
2021 OECD data.

The gap is far greater than in Britain, France and the United States, where 
women spend 1.8 times, 1.7 times and 1.6 times -- respectively -- longer than 
men doing unpaid work.

While supporters describe the act of cleaning up the stadium as proof of 
Japan's cultural altruism, others have also seen it as slightly performative.

And opinions have been divided on the viral X post.

"Wives struggling with husbands who don't clean at all should have them wear 
Samurai Japan uniforms at home too," one comment said.

"This is too much of generalisation -- not all Japanese men are like that," 
another user wrote.