Japan to Host Global Trash Pickup Competition
- The Earth & I Editorial Team
- Oct 22
- 1 min read
‘Spogomi’ World Cup 2025 Spurs Action, Awareness
Dubbing itself “the most Earth-friendly sport,” Spogomi is an environmental competition originating in Japan in which teams collect and sort the most litter within a designated area and timeframe. The Nippon Foundation’s Spogomi World Cup 2025, to be held October 27–31, 2025, in Japan, promotes litter-cleanup as a sport for all people. Here are some numbers surrounding this global initiative:
Spogomi—a word combining “spo” and “gomi,” meaning sport and trash in Japanese—was invented in 2008 by Mamitsuka Kenichi of the Nippon Foundation’s Social Sports Initiative.
Teams of three have one hour to collect trash and 20 more minutes for sorting.
Points are awarded based on the amount and types of trash collected.
A British team won the inaugural Spogomi World Cup in 2023 after collecting and sorting around 60 kg (132 lbs) of Tokyo trash.
Between 2008 and November 2024, 193,120 kg (425,750 lbs) of litter have been collected via all Spogomi events. Some 165,321 people have participated.
Some of the countries that have already held or are scheduled to hold qualifier Spogomi events include: Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, France, Germany, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Namibia, Palau, Pakistan, the Philippines, Senegal, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Tunisia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the UK.
National-level winners receive free flights to Japan plus accommodations. The winning team in 2023 won a cash prize of 1 million yen (roughly $6,800).
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