Garbage in Kumamoto City, Kikuyo Town and Ozu Town: sorting, bags, collection days and large items (2026)

You have just moved in, and the bags are piling up. Where do they go, and on which day? In Japan, each city and town sets its own garbage rules, so the answer depends on where you live. This guide compares Kumamoto City, Kikuyo Town and Ozu Town: how to sort, which bags to buy, how to find your collection days and how to get rid of large items. It uses the official pages of the three local governments.

Where you live	Bags	How to find your day	Large items
Kumamoto City	City bags for burnable and landfill garbage only	Calendar for your school district, or the city app	Book with Gomi Zero Call
Kikuyo Town	Red, yellow and green town bags	Calendar for district A, B, C or D, or the town app	Book with Nakano Eisei 5 days ahead
Ozu Town	Red, clear, green and yellow town bags	Calendar for area A, B, C or D, or the garbage app	Book with Hino Kankyo by the day before

1. What is the same in all three places?

A few rules are the same in Kumamoto City, Kikuyo Town and Ozu Town:

• Put garbage out by 8:30 on the morning of its collection day. Kikuyo Town says garbage put out the night before can be set on fire or scattered by crows and cats.
• Use your own garbage station (ごみステーション, gomi suteshon). The people who use a station look after it. Ask your neighborhood association (自治会, jichikai), your landlord or your management company which station is yours. In Kumamoto City, the station can be different for each garbage type.
• Only household garbage. Garbage from a shop, office or other business cannot go to a garbage station. Ozu Town says this also applies to a home that is used as an office.
• Book large items first. A large item with a sticker but no booking may not be collected.

2. Kumamoto City

Kumamoto City

These rules cover Kumamoto City except the Ueki area (植木地区) of Kita Ward. If you live in the Ueki area, ask the Kita Ward Office General Affairs and Planning Section (北区役所総務企画課) at 096-272-1110.

2.1 How do I sort?

Kumamoto City collects seven types of household garbage on a regular schedule:

• Burnable garbage (燃やすごみ): food waste, paper scraps, plastic products, cloth scraps, leather, rubber, wood, grass. Twice a week.
• Paper (紙): newspapers and flyers, cardboard, paper cartons of 500 ml or more, other paper. Once a week.
• Plastic containers and packaging (プラスチック製容器包装): cups, bags, bottles, packs, trays, lids and labels. Once a week.
• Resources (資源物): pots and pans, empty bottles and cans, old clothes, bicycles. Twice a month.
• PET bottles (ペットボトル). Twice a month.
• Special items (特定品目): fluorescent tubes, mercury thermometers, gas canisters and spray cans, lighters, batteries, and small devices whose batteries cannot be removed. Twice a month.
• Landfill garbage (埋立ごみ): glass, pottery, small appliances. Twice a month.

2.2 Which bags do I need?

Only burnable garbage and landfill garbage must go in the city’s designated bags (指定袋, shitei-bukuro). Paper, plastic packaging, resources, PET bottles and special items are collected free. The bags are sold in sets of 10 at more than 800 supermarkets, convenience stores, drugstores and home centers; look for the shop sticker.

Since April 2026, the city also sells a new bag that you can use for either burnable or landfill garbage. The older burnable and landfill bags can still be used for their own type. The price per bag is the same for all of them: ¥35 for the large 45-liter bag, ¥23 for 30 liters, ¥12 for 15 liters and ¥4 for 5 liters (there is no 5-liter bag for landfill garbage only). Never put burnable and landfill garbage in the same bag.

2.3 How do I find my collection days?

Collection days depend on your elementary school district (校区, kouku).

1. Find your school district. If you do not know it, add Kumamoto City’s official LINE account as a friend and use its garbage menu (ごみの出し方), or ask the General Affairs and Planning Section (総務企画課) of your ward office.
2. Get the calendar for your district. Download it from the city’s 2026 garbage calendar page (Japanese, PDF for 18 district groups). Ward offices and branch offices also hand out the printed version.
3. Or install the app. The Kumamoto City Garbage Calendar App (熊本市ごみカレンダーアプリ) follows your phone’s language setting and works in English, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Korean and easy Japanese. Search for 熊本市 ごみ in the App Store or Google Play.

The city also has a Garbage Separation Guide (PDF) in English, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese. That page was last updated in July 2023, before the new bag, so check the app for current rules.

2.4 How do I get rid of large items?

Anything too big to fit in a large designated bag with the top tied is a large item (大型ごみ, ogata gomi), for example furniture, a futon or a large fan heater. The city collects large items from your home for a fee, but only if you book.

1. Call Gomi Zero Call (ごみゼロコール) at 0570-00-5374. Press 1 for large items. The city says it also takes bookings in English. Have a pen ready.
2. Agree on the details. You get a collection date, a place to put the item, the fee and a reception number. The fee is ¥500 or ¥900 per item. As a rule you can book up to 5 items for one collection day.
3. Buy a large-item sticker (大型ごみ処理シール) for the fee at a convenience store or another shop in the city. Write the reception number on it and stick it on the item.
4. Put the item out by 8:30 on the collection day at the agreed place. You do not need to be there. Collectors do not go inside your home.

Collection usually comes about a week after you book, but in the moving season it can take about three weeks, so book early. The fee is not refunded if you buy the wrong sticker. Gomi Zero Call takes calls Monday to Saturday, 8:30–17:00, except over the New Year. On its earthquake page (September 2026), the city says the hours are extended to 18:00 for now, including public holidays.

The city does not collect air conditioners, TVs, refrigerators and freezers, washing machines and clothes dryers, or personal computers. Use the shop or maker recycling routes for these.

2.5 Watch the city’s video in English

Kumamoto City made a video on its garbage rules and recycling in English, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog and Nepali. The English version, from Kumamoto City’s official YouTube channel:

3. Kikuyo Town

Kikuyo Town

3.1 How do I sort, and which bags do I need?

Kikuyo Town sorts household garbage into burnable garbage, recyclables (several groups, such as plastic packaging, PET bottles, cans and bottles, paper and cloth), non-burnable garbage, special items and bulky garbage. Since April 2025, lithium-ion batteries, mobile batteries and small rechargeable devices whose batteries cannot be removed are special items.

The town’s designated bags show the type by color: red for burnable, yellow for non-burnable and green for recyclables. A pack of 10 costs ¥300 (large), ¥200 (small) or ¥150 (extra small), the same for each color. Write your name on the yellow bag for non-burnable garbage; the 2026 calendar says bags without a name are not collected. Special items go in separate clear bags, one type per bag, on the non-burnable day.

3.2 How do I find my collection days?

The town is divided into four collection districts, A to D, and each has its own calendar for April 2026 to March 2027. The calendar page lists the neighborhoods in each district. Burnable garbage is collected on Tuesdays and Fridays in districts A and B, and on Mondays and Thursdays in districts C and D.

• Download your district’s calendar from the town’s 2026 calendar page (PDF). The town posted printed copies to each household in February and March 2026.
• Or use the garbage section of the Kikuyo Town official app (菊陽町公式アプリ). After you set your district, it sends reminders, shows the calendar and lets you look up how to sort an item. The town explains the app in Japanese.
• The town’s garbage website (Japanese) can also search by item or by neighborhood name.

3.3 How do I get rid of bulky garbage?

Bulky garbage (粗大ごみ, sodai gomi) is anything that does not fit in a designated bag, or that stops you tying the bag closed. It is collected once a month, only if you book.

1. Check your bulky garbage day on your district’s calendar. Districts A and B share one day, and districts C and D another.
2. Book with Nakano Eisei (中野衛生), the town’s collector, by phone at 096-232-0636 or online (Japanese). The deadline is 15:00, five days before the collection day. You can put out up to 5 items per household each time. If the day is full, you can book for a later month.
3. Buy bulky garbage stickers (粗大ごみシール, ¥500 each) at a shop and stick them on each item. Most items need one or two stickers (¥500 or ¥1,000). Use only stickers that say 菊陽町 (Kikuyo Town).
4. Put the items out by 8:30 on the collection day. You do not need to be there. The collector does not carry items out of your home.

TVs, air conditioners, refrigerators and freezers, and washing machines and dryers can be booked by phone only. They also need a home appliance recycling ticket (家電リサイクル券), which you pay for at a post office, plus stickers. If you need to change or cancel a booking, call Nakano Eisei by 15:00, five days before the collection day.

3.4 Is there information in English?

The 2026 calendars label the garbage types in English and Chinese. The town’s 2024 Guide to living in Kikuyo Town (English PDF on the multilingual guide page) has a garbage section, but check booking deadlines against the current Japanese pages. The sorting booklet (ごみの分け方・出し方) is in Japanese. For questions about sorting, the town lists its Environment and Living Section (環境生活課) at 096-232-2114.

4. Ozu Town

Ozu Town

4.1 How do I sort, and which bags do I need?

Most garbage in Ozu Town goes in a town bag of a set color:

• Red: burnable garbage. Twice a week.
• Clear: plastic containers and packaging with the プラ mark, including white trays and polystyrene (once a week), and PET bottles (once a month).
• Green: cans and bottles, cloth, paper cartons, cardboard, newspapers and flyers, magazines and other paper. Each once a month.
• Yellow: non-burnable garbage, such as small metal items, small appliances, pottery and glass. Once a month. Write your name on the bag.

Special items, such as batteries, spray cans, lighters and fluorescent tubes, have no town bag. Put them in ordinary clear plastic bags, one type per bag, on the non-burnable day. You can put out up to 5 bags at a time, and garbage only tied to the outside of a bag is not collected. The town’s page (December 2023) lists a pack of 10 bags at ¥300 (45 liters), ¥200 (30 liters) or ¥100 (15 liters).

4.2 How do I find my collection days?

Ozu Town is split into four areas, A to D, each with its own 2026 calendar (PDF) on the town’s garbage page. The town also has the Ozu Town Garbage App (大津町ごみ分別アプリ), free to use, in English, Chinese (simplified and traditional) and Vietnamese. Search for “Ozu Town Garbage App” in the App Store or Google Play. Since January 2026, the app can tell you your area when you type in your address, and it can remind you on collection days.

The same page has a short garbage guide (PDF) in English, Chinese and Vietnamese. The area calendars and the A-to-Z sorting list (50音別ごみ分別表) are in Japanese.

4.3 How do I get rid of large items?

Large items are things that do not fit in a town bag, such as beds, desks, wardrobes and bicycles. You can choose collection in front of your home or take them yourself.

1. Book by phone with Hino Kankyo (日野環境) at 096-293-2156, by 15:00 the day before. They give you a reception number and tell you how many large-item stickers you need.
2. Buy the stickers (粗大ごみステッカー, ¥500 each) at a shop that sells them and put them on the items.
3. Put the items in front of your home by 8:30 on the collection day.

TVs, air conditioners, washing machines and dryers, and refrigerators and freezers also need a home appliance recycling ticket. Check the maker and model number first, then buy the ticket at a post office counter in the town. When you buy a new item, the town suggests asking the shop to take the old one.

To take garbage yourself, burnable garbage and burnable large items go to Clean no Mori Koshi (クリーンの森合志) in Koshi City. Recyclables, non-burnable garbage and non-burnable large items go to the town’s Environment Beautification Center (環境美化センター). The fee is set by weight: household garbage under 44 kg is free, and large items cost ¥110 for under 10 kg plus ¥110 for each extra 10 kg. Both take garbage on weekdays, 8:30–12:00 and 13:00–17:00. Clean no Mori Koshi is also open on Saturday mornings; the Environment Beautification Center is closed on Saturdays.

Environment Beautification Center: 115 Ozu, Ozu-machi, Kikuchi-gun, Kumamoto · Google Maps · 096-293-1222
Clean no Mori Koshi: 460 Kikutomi, Koshi-shi, Kumamoto · Google Maps · 096-248-0330
Questions about garbage: Ozu Town Environmental Conservation Section (環境保全課), 096-293-3113

Common questions

Why must my garbage bag be see-through?

Kumamoto City says collectors check what is inside to keep the sorting rules. If a bag breaks the rules, they put a rule-violation sticker on it and leave it for a while.

Can I put a TV or a refrigerator out as a large item in Kumamoto City?

No. Kumamoto City does not collect air conditioners, TVs, refrigerators and freezers, or washing machines and dryers, even as large items. In Kikuyo Town and Ozu Town, you can book them as bulky garbage, with a home appliance recycling ticket.

I bought the wrong large-item sticker in Kumamoto City. Can I get my money back?

No. The city does not refund the fee. You can use the sticker the next time you put out a large item.

Are garden branches and leaves free in Kumamoto City?

Yes. Cut branches to 50 cm or shorter and put them in a clear bag of up to 45 liters, or tie them in bundles up to 30 cm across. Put leaves in a clear bag of up to 45 liters. Grass and flowers are not free; they go in the burnable bag.

Can I use Kumamoto City stickers in Kikuyo Town?

No. Kikuyo Town says the stickers must say 菊陽町 (Kikuyo Town); items with stickers from another city or town are not collected.

Sources (checked October 6, 2026)

• Kumamoto City: sorting and putting out household garbage, 2026 garbage calendars, designated bags and prices, new shared bag from April 2026, large items and Gomi Zero Call, garbage calendar app, Garbage Separation Guide in other languages, garbage videos, earthquake garbage collection
• Kikuyo Town: garbage website, 2026 calendars, sorting booklet, bag and sticker prices, bulky garbage, lithium-ion batteries, official app, Guide to living in Kikuyo Town
• Ozu Town: garbage calendars and how to put out garbage, designated bags and stickers, multilingual garbage app, area search in the app