Watch: Japanese hockey team leaves dressing room ‘sparkling clean’ after match

At the FIFA World Cup in Qatar last year, Japanese football team and their fans had gone viral for cleaning up after themselves.

A member of the Japanese hockey contingent cleans up the dressing room. (Screengrabs)

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The Japanese hockey team may have lost their Asian Champions Trophy clash against Malaysia by a 3-1 margin on Monday, but the team earned plaudits for cleaning up their locker room before leaving.

At the FIFA World Cup in Qatar last year, Japanese football team and their fans had gone viral for cleaning up after themselves. The Japanese football team had also left a thank you note for the organisers along with a few origami cranes. Japan is widely known for being one of the cleanest countries in the world. At the FIFA World Cup, videos had shown Japanese fans staying behind after their team’s victory over Germany to help cleaning crews tidy up the Khalifa International Stadium.

A video posted by Hockey India on Monday showed a member of the Japanese contingent clearing trash in a plastic bag after the Malaysia defeat.

How the Japanese leave their dressing room after every match. Sparkling Clean ✨️ #HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #HACT2023 pic.twitter.com/MzrZd6z0ae

— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) August 7, 2023

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In the game, Malaysia thumped Japan 3-1 — thanks to goals from Najmi Jazlan (13th minute, penalty corner), Ashran Hamsani (37th) and Shello Silverius (59th) — to earn their spot in the semi-finals. The top four teams out of six after the round-robin league qualify for the semifinals. The win took Malaysia to nine points after three wins and one loss

For Japan, Niwa Takuma (59th) scored, albeit in a losing cause. They will play China in their last league game on Wednesday. The team has managed to hold both India and Pakistan to draws at the ACT.