Heartwarming footage of Japanese tourists picking up rubbish outside an iconic Melbourne landmark has divided Aussies.
Footage shared to TikTok this week showed at least 10 Japanese visitors doing their bit to keep the streets clean near Flinders Street station.
Armed with pick-up sticks and garbage bags, the group was captured walking along one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares collecting rubbish.
They held the bags open for each other to discard the litter.
The short clip ended with an Aussie man filming giving their efforts a big thumbs up.
However, viewers were divided by the generous act, with the clip also sparking debate among Sunrise presenters on Tuesday.
‘Good on them,’ host Matt Shirvington commented.
His co-host Nat Barr added: ‘It is, but it’s also embarrassing that tourists had to do it.’
Japanese visitors were spotted picking up rubbish near Melbourne’s Flinders Street station
Questions were raised about how Australia rates in terms of cleanliness as a country.
‘Do you think we are as bad as some other nations? If Japan is the top tier, we are not the bottom are we?’ Shirvington asked.
Newsreader Monique Wright replied: ‘It’s nice that in that culture, you don’t walk past rubbish, you pick it up.’
Barr agreed, noting it was a reminder for Aussies to take pride in their surroundings.
More than 362,000 Japanese tourists visited Australia in 2024, a one-third increase from the year before.
And it’s not the first time Japanese visitors have been praised for their cleanliness.
Soccer fans praised Japanese spectators spotted cleaning the stadium after every Japan match during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
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Japanese tourists’ extraordinary act outside Melbourne’s Flinders Street station stuns Aussies
AloJapan.com