Photo: Screenshot of a videoclip on X

Japanese football fans drew wide attention after they stayed behind to clean the stands following Japan's 2-2 draw with the Netherlands at the FIFA World Cup in Dallas on Sunday, with many praising them for the deed, however, the familiar scene has also triggered sarcasm among some Japanese social media users, who questioned their intention with criticism for "putting on a show internationally."

According to FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth, Japanese supporters were seen on social media cleaning up the trash at Dallas Stadium after Sunday's World Cup match against the Netherlands in Arlington, Texas. The report said that Jameis Winston, an NFL quarterback working as part of FOX's World Cup coverage, also joined the fans in helping clean up the stands.

FIFA's official social media account also posted footage of Japanese fans picking up garbage after the game, saying that the reason for doing this is "respect." 

X user @rowmehl said that Japan's fans are as passionate as they are respectful, while another user @gaonecosan said that the move is because of their "goodwill", rather than a sense of obligation. 

However, some Japanese users questioned whether the stadium cleanups had become less a natural habit than a staged performance for international approval.

In posts circulating on X, several Japanese users said the practice amounted to "showing off" in front of the world rather than reflecting everyday reality. One user, @3DGAN, said, "At the World Cup, Japanese supporters pick up trash in the stands, they get praised for it—what they're really doing is seeking praise," calling them "hypocrites".

One X user posting in Japanese claimed that football functions as a "proxy war" of local communities and class conflict, which is why it sometimes leads to riots. Japanese fan culture—through practices such as picking up trash—has become excessively conditioned by an external gaze that expects "Japanese people to be disciplined," resulting in an overperformance of that image. As a result, even situations where it is acceptable to be more emotionally expressive end up being constrained by this internalized norm. "It's strange," according to another netizen, @inlaforet, writing in Japanese.

Another user, @kapapanpan, wrote in Japanese that in reality there is a lot of litter on Japanese streets and not enough public trash bins, questioning why such efforts are only made in situations where people feel they are being watched internationally. The user described the behavior as embarrassing and said it triggered a strong sense of "vicarious embarrassment."

Under @kapapanpan's post, X user "@ganotagano" commented that he had rarely seen people picking up litter in Japan itself, while posting a photo showing garbage scattered along a street. 

Another user, "@mikansince2001," argued that people celebrating in Tokyo's Shibuya district should also clean up litter after large gatherings as a way of showing responsibility and respect for public spaces. Meanwhile, "@bkbk3bkbk3" took a more skeptical tone, suggesting that the cleanup effort appeared staged for attention and claiming that he had rarely seen similar litter-picking activities take place in Japan.

Global Times