Summer is a season to move, when many people leave Okinawa. Some go back home and others to new jobs in new places. It’s also the time to get rid of junk and unneeded stuff in the house.

Anyone who has ever moved residence has been surprised of the amount of stuff that piles up in closets, corners, basements and garages over a period of only a couple of years. The big question is, how to get rid of it all effectively, and following the laws and rules of the community.

A simple solution on Okinawa is to pick up a phone and call Yutaka Shoji, and let their staff come to pick up everything one wants to unload and not to take along. Sofas, tables, TVs, refrigerators, clothing, motorcycles and cars, waste material, industrial trash, food trash and just about anything else you want to dump can be gone immediately!
Trash rules in Japan make it difficult to discard electric appliances and equipment with regular trash, and similar rules apply to lights, batteries, iron materials, furniture and almost everything else. Breaking the rules and improperly disposing of such goods often leads to fines and penalties, but a call to Yutaka Shoji to ask them to get rid of all that solves everything! (For example, an extra charge applies to some electric equipment, because of Japanese national recycling control laws.)

Yutaka Fukushima, the owner of Yutaka Shoji, used to work at a furniture shop, where he got plenty of requests from foreigners about picking up old furniture instead of installing new. Old furniture, old equipment, broken furniture and broken large equipment are all hard to move on your own, even to the nearest public dump.

Yutaka Fukushima, the owner of Yutaka Shoji

Yutaka thought it could be a business, with so many people wondering how to trash large items, and he figured he could help while stopping illegal dumping at the same time. The result is a very smooth operation. His crew appears at a customers’ door, and a couple of hours later, the load is on the rear deck of their truck and on the way to a legal dumping site.

No job is too big or small to Yutaka Shoji. “Sometimes the work is hard, but we believe the work helps people and the environment!” Yutaka says.

Yutaka Shouji also has staff working in their garage. After items are picked up from houses, they are gathered to the company’s garage, and sorted into groups; some need to be dumped, some can be recycled. Useful materials are separated, beds are disassembled to separate covering cloth, mats, springs, wooden parts, iron pipes and so on for recycling.
All this work is done by physically disabled people giving them work that they can perform. Yutaka says there are many disabled people on Okinawa who can and want to work, but can’t find a place where they could use the skills according to their physical limitations. Yutaka says, “This kind of simple work is very suitable for them. They are very hand, honest and passionate workers.”

He believes his business is good for the environment and socially beneficial providing work for disabled people. In a matter of fact, their work at Yutaka Shoji is not limited to recycling. Over the years Yutaka has expanded his work to include much more disabled workers who, for example, make accessories, fold pamphlets and pack vegetables for shipping. One of his biggest customers is the Nago Pineapple Park.

Yutaka says he can come to any part of Okinawa main island to make a quick estimate. And if the customer accepts the estimate, they can start the job right there and then.
Also Yutaka says, “If you are considering to throw out your unwanted items, give us a call. If you decide to do it on your own, it will take a lot of work, but if you let us do it for you, I am confident that you will be highly pleased. English may not be my strongest suit, but we will try our best to be of help.” He also says “Please make sure of your address before you call us. In case you don’t know the address, tell me your housing agency. We will call them to find your address.” However, in order to go to on base housing they need the customer to provide an escort.

Yutaka Shoji’s working hours are from 10:00 to 17:00. Representatives are available from 08:30 to 18:00 at (098) 937-2254. A cell phone number 090-8292-2871 if fixed phone is not available, answers from 09:00 to 18:00. The new website for Yutaka Shouji is scheduled to open this August, detailing the company services.

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