Throwing Out Big Items in Japan: How Oversized Garbage (Sodai Gomi) Works
Updated: 2026-08-26
Quick answer
Big items like a sofa, a mattress, a bicycle, or a shelf can't just go out with your burnable and recyclable bags — in Japan they're treated as "oversized garbage," or sodai gomi, and they need their own process. The usual pattern is: you contact your local ward to book a collection date, buy a paper disposal ticket at a convenience store, stick it on the item, and put it out on the morning you were given.
There's one important exception: fridges, washing machines, TVs, and air conditioners are not handled as sodai gomi at all. By law they go through a separate home-appliance recycling route. And because the fine details differ from ward to ward, the golden rule is always to check your own ward's website before you throw anything out.
Sodai gomi vs. everyday garbage
Your daily garbage — food scraps, plastic packaging, cans, bottles, paper — goes out on fixed days in the designated bags, sorted the way your ward requires. That part you'll get used to quickly. Oversized garbage is a different track entirely, and knowing which track an item belongs to saves you a lot of confusion.
The dividing line is usually size. Many wards treat anything with a side longer than about 30 centimetres as oversized, though the exact threshold varies by area. Furniture, futons, suitcases, bicycles, and small appliances typically fall into the sodai gomi category. When in doubt, your ward's guide lists common items and how each one should be thrown out.
Step 1: Book a collection with your ward
You can't just leave a desk on the curb — collection has to be arranged in advance. Most wards run an automated phone line and, increasingly, an online form or app where you say what you want to throw out and roughly its size. They give you a collection date, a price for each item, and often a reference number to write down.
Book with a little breathing room, because popular slots fill up and collection may only run on certain days. When you make the reservation, you'll be told exactly how much the disposal ticket for your item costs — that number is what you need for the next step.
Step 2: Buy the disposal ticket at a convenience store
Once you know the price, you buy a disposal ticket — often called a shori-ken or a sticker (shiiru) — at a convenience store. You tell the staff the yen amount you were quoted, pay for it, and receive an adhesive slip. Some wards use tickets in fixed denominations that you combine to reach the total.
Write what you're told on the ticket — usually your reservation number or name — peel it, and stick it firmly onto the item where the crew can see it. This ticket is the proof that you've paid, so an item without one generally won't be taken.
Step 3: Put it out on the right morning
On your booked day, place the item at the spot your ward specified — often your usual collection point or in front of your building — by the morning deadline, not the night before. The crew comes through once, so being late by an hour can mean waiting for the next available date.
You don't usually need to hand anything to anyone or be present; the ticket does the talking. If you've labeled it correctly and put it out on time, it simply disappears while you're at work.
The big exception: fridges, washers, TVs, and air conditioners
Four categories of appliance — refrigerators and freezers, washing machines and dryers, televisions, and air conditioners — are covered by Japan's home-appliance recycling law and cannot go out as sodai gomi. They have to be recycled through a dedicated route, and you pay a recycling fee for each one.
In practice you have a few options: ask the shop where you buy the replacement to take the old one, contact the retailer that originally sold it, or use your ward's designated method for arranging appliance recycling. Your ward's website explains the local procedure, and it's worth reading before you assume the truck will take your old fridge — it won't.
Rules vary by ward — always check first
I keep repeating "check your ward" because it genuinely matters here. Size thresholds, prices, how you book, where you buy tickets, and which items count as oversized all differ between municipalities — and they can change. What a friend in the next city did may not match your area at all.
The reliable move is to look up your own ward's garbage guide, usually available in several languages, and follow that. A few minutes of reading before you book saves a wasted trip, a rejected item, or a fee you didn't expect.
One thing that makes all of this easier
Notice how every step here runs through your phone: the booking line and app, checking your ward's page, confirming the ticket price, reading the appliance-recycling instructions. When you're brand new and still settling in, doing all of that reliably is so much smoother with your own Japanese number and mobile data rather than borrowed wifi.
That's the part I can help with. With Rakuten Mobile you can apply with just your residence card, and if your phone supports eSIM you can often be connected the same day in about five to ten minutes — no store visit needed. It's one simple unlimited plan, and calls within Japan are free through the Rakuten Link app, which is handy when a ward line rings you back. Get a number and data sorted first, and the whole sodai gomi routine becomes a quick errand instead of a puzzle.
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