Japanese businessman picks up trash at Hoan Kiem Lake for over 10 years to "repay Vietnam"

At 8 o'clock on a weekend, Mr. Tohru Ninomiya, 73 years old, along with about 30 foreigners and Vietnamese volunteers gathered at Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square (Hoan Kiem district).

After greeting, they divided up paper bags, gloves, and iron tongs, then dispersed around Hoan Kiem Lake to pick up trash, under the sweltering sun of Hanoi's summer.

30 minutes later, the volunteers returned to the gathering point, carrying paper bags filled with cigarette butts, paper cups, plastic bottles, etc.

They collect, sort, and then transport recyclable waste to the headquarters of environmental projects. These units then take the waste to treatment plants.

At the end of the trash collection session, Japanese and Vietnamese volunteers took a souvenir photo together. For more than a decade, the same photo angle by Hoan Kiem Lake, people come and go, but the trash collection activity is still persistent for 30 minutes every Sunday morning.

"I want to spread a good habit to everyone, especially children," said Tohru Ninomiya, the project's initiator.

Japanese and Vietnamese volunteers take a photo after picking up trash on June 11 (Photo: Minh Nhan).

In October 2008, Mr. Tohru Ninomiya came to Vietnam for the first time, working for a rubber manufacturing company. Looking at the capital Hanoi, the Japanese businessman found the people here friendly and life peaceful.

Once walking along Hoan Kiem Lake, he observed many people casually throwing cigarette butts, plastic bottles… on the street, in the flower garden… even though there were public trash cans next to them. He believes that if this does not change soon, Hoan Kiem Lake will gradually lose its inherent beauty.

"I am always grateful to the first Vietnamese people who built and founded the company with me. I thought I needed to do something to repay and contribute to Vietnamese society," Mr. Ninomiya recalled.

In March 2011, he used his own money to buy paper bags, clips and gloves, and invited five colleagues to start picking up trash at Hoan Kiem Lake. At that time, this activity was maintained every two weeks, then moved to every Sunday morning from September 2012.

The story of the Japanese man picking up trash at Hoan Kiem Lake quickly attracted the attention of local media. In 2013, a photo titled "Picking up trash for the love of Hanoi", capturing the moment when Mr. Ninomiya was wearing a red raincoat diligently picking up trash at Hoan Kiem Lake, won first prize in the "For a green environment 2013" contest.

The photo "Picking up trash for the love of Hanoi" by author Duong Van Hai won first prize in the "For a green environment 2013" contest.

This image spread strongly to the Vietnamese community, inspiring many environmentalists in Hanoi. Among them, Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Phuong, 65 years old, a retired hydrometeorological expert, has participated and supported Mr. Ninomiya since October 2012.

She believes: "If foreigners love Hanoi and spend their own money and effort to pick up trash, then we must be more dedicated than that."

To call on people to join in picking up trash at 8am every Sunday, Ms. Phuong helped Mr. Ninomiya establish a volunteer group called Clean up Hoan Kiem Lake with Ninomiya on Facebook. This is where she honors those who have sweated to "protect the green of the capital".

Each trash picking session lasts 30 minutes, with an average of 20 members, and at peak times the number increases to 50-60, including both Vietnamese and Japanese people.

The toolkit is neatly placed on the ground so that anyone can participate, from children, students, parents, working people, the elderly, businessmen, experts...

"We persistently pick up trash and beautify Hoan Kiem Lake regardless of rain or shine, only interrupting our activities during the Covid-19 pandemic," she said.

In the early days, many people asked Ms. Phuong "can you make money picking up trash?".

In response, she smiled and said this was a voluntary activity to clean up the environment, so that others would feel ashamed when they littered.

Trash collection tools including paper bags, gloves, iron tongs, etc. are neatly arranged (Photo: Phuong Nguyen).

Some people wonder why the volunteer group only picks up trash for 30 minutes each session, saying that this activity is just a drop in the ocean or a waste of time.

At first, Tohru Ninomiya felt a bit sad when he heard that, but according to him, "30 minutes is enough and reasonable time to maintain a long-term movement".

"If the activity lasts too long, members will get tired, especially on hot summer days, and easily lose their enthusiasm," the Japanese man explained.

Understanding what is "enough and reasonable", Mr. Ninomiya's project attracted everyone's attention, gradually expanding its scope of influence, and significantly impacting people's awareness.

Volunteers spread out around Hoan Kiem Lake, carrying paper bags and metal clips, picking up trash for 30 minutes (Photo: Phuong Nguyen).

Knowing about the group Clean up Hoan Kiem Lake with Ninomiya through her sister, for over a month, Ms. Kim Hue (37 years old, Hoang Mai district) has regularly brought her 5 children, the oldest is 10 years old, the youngest is 6 months old, to Hoan Kiem Lake to pick up trash.

"I want to teach my children to love nature and respect the hard work of cleaning ladies," she shared.

Despite taking care of five children alone, the mother said she was not tired as long as her children learned how to protect the environment through weekly trash picking activities. At home, she also often guides her children to collect, classify and throw trash in the right place.

Ms. Kim Hue takes her children to Hoan Kiem Lake to pick up trash every weekend (Photo: Minh Nhan).

Mr. Tran Van Dam, 76 years old, living in Vinh Tuong district ( Vinh Phuc province) has been involved in cleaning up Hoan Kiem Lake with Ninomiya for 9 years.

At 4am every weekend, he takes many buses to Hanoi, rents a room or sleeps at a friend's house, waiting for the time to pick up trash.

"Mr. Ninomiya and Ms. Phuong inspired me. I hope that every citizen and every tourist will voluntarily throw trash in the right place," Mr. Dam said, calling on young people to take action for an ideal living environment.

Mr. Tran Van Dam from Vinh Phuc went to Hanoi to pick up trash (Photo: Minh Nhan).

After 10 years, Mr. Ninomiya and Ms. Phuong noticed that the hygiene awareness around Hoan Kiem Lake has improved significantly, with many trash bins placed around the area by the local government.

According to Ms. Phuong, the group's persistence and perseverance have contributed to changing people's awareness, making them realize that behind every stone bench around Hoan Kiem Lake is a landfill that can be filled with a paper bag.

"The image of volunteers picking up trash has been associated with Hoan Kiem Lake for more than a decade," said Ms. Phuong.

Mr. Ninomiya also realized that the key to maintaining the project was the enthusiastic participation of Vietnamese people who love the environment. Every time he returned to Vietnam or went on a business trip, Ms. Phuong and other members took turns organizing to ensure that the activities were not interrupted.

"I'm not saying this project will bring positive results. I just hope this is a place where everyone works well together," he confided.

The Japanese man did not know how long he could stay in Vietnam, so he transferred most of the group's activities to Vietnamese volunteers. He said he had completed his mission as the initiator and leader, hoping that the next generation would inherit and expand the project.

"One day, when Mr. Ninomiya returns to Vietnam, we will clean up our country ourselves," Ms. Phuong affirmed, determined to maintain weekly activities as the way Mr. Ninomiya has "repaid Vietnam" for the past 11 years.

Mr. Tohru Ninomiya believes thateducating children is the core to forming environmental awareness. In particular, family and school are the ones who guide children to form the activity of picking up trash every day.

"I hope that in 5-10 years, everyone will have the habit of picking up trash together," he said.

Mr. Tohru Ninomiya, 73 years old, Japanese nationality.

From 2008 to present, he has worked at Ishigaki Vietnam (2008 - 2015), Hiroshima Energy Supply (2015 - 2018) and Kubota Kasui Vietnam (2018 - present). In 2018, Mr. Ninomiya was recognized by the People's Committee of Hoan Kiem District as a "Good person, good deed" for his trash collection activities around Hoan Kiem Lake.

Mr. Ninomiya received a certificate of merit from the People's Committee of Hoan Kiem District in 2018.

Editorial: Regardless of skin color, language, nationality, many foreigners living and working in Vietnam over the years have attached themselves to and loved this land as their own homeland. With sincere hearts, they contribute and dedicate themselves to Vietnam in many fields, from economy, culture, cuisine, to tourism, education, environment. More than anyone else, they are foreign "ambassadors" who tell the most authentic stories about Vietnam to international friends. Dan Tri e-newspaper respectfully introduces to readers a series of articles Foreign "ambassadors" , introducing international friends who silently inspire beautiful living in the flow of modern life.

Content: Minh Nhan

Photo: Minh Nhan, Phuong Nguyen

Design: Do Diep

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