Japanese Trio Wins Second Litter-Picking “SpoGomi” World Cup in Tokyo
Published on December 16, 2025
A trio from Japan won The Nippon Foundation “SpoGomi” World Cup 2025 Final in Tokyo on October 29, beating out teams from around the world to pick up the most trash from the streets of Tokyo.
In the quest for the world title, 33 three-member teams from six continents, selected through qualifying rounds held earlier this year, took to iconic locations such as the Shibuya Scramble Crossing and Omotesando in central Tokyo, diligently combing through urban spaces to collect litter.
SpoGomi, the conflation of an abbreviation of "sport" with "gomi,” the Japanese word for trash, was invented in Japan in 2008 as a competition to encourage people to clean up public spaces.
By supporting the World Cup, The Nippon Foundation aims to promote the sport internationally, raise awareness of the problem of marine litter, 80% of which is generated on land, and provide a platform for those motivated to take action across national boundaries and generations.
Under the SpoGomi World Cup rules, three-person teams race to collect and sort as much litter as possible within a designated area and time. They have 90 minutes to collect trash, divided into two 45-minutes halves, and an additional 20 minutes to sort it after each half.
Scores are awarded based on not just the amount but also the type of trash collected. Non-burnable items and glass bottles earn 5 points per 100 grams, burnable items 10 points, aluminum cans 15 points, and PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic bottles 25 points. Cigarette butts earn the most points－50 points per 100 grams.
The Japanese team, dubbed Smile Story, clinched the 2025 world title by accumulating 7,210.0 points from 74.76 kilograms of rubbish, with a big margin of 996.5 points over runners-up the Grandline-Cleaners from Germany, who earned 6,213.5 points from 74.56 kilograms. Atlas Lions from Morocco finished third with 6,070.3 points from 79.89 kilograms.
Smile Story, who finished as the runners-up to a British team in the inaugural World Cup in 2023, regularly volunteer for coastal cleanups in their hometown of Niigata on the Sea of Japan coast.
In winning the world title, Ms. Tomoe Takahashi, a member of the Japanese team, said: “Great job to everyone! Pushing through the full 45 minutes (for each half) was incredibly tough, but the SpoGomi World Cup rules made it so interesting. It really hit me that this is a genuine sport. Those we competed against aren’t our rivals but teammates. If more people join us in picking up trash, little by little, the Earth will become a cleaner place.”
In alphabetical order, the 33 countries taking part in the SpoGomi World Cup 2025 Final were: Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, France, Germany, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Morocco, Namibia, Palau, Philippines, Senegal, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Thailand, Tunisia, United Kingdom, United States of America and Vietnam. Pakistan held local qualifiers, but could not attend the Tokyo final due to travel restrictions.
Together, the 99 competitors from the 33 teams collected 878.98 kilograms of trash from Tokyo’s streets during the competition.
Across domestic and international qualifying rounds, 8,502 participants collected a total of 22,516.28 kilograms of garbage from the world’s streets.
The Nippon Foundation aims to hold a third SpoGomi World Cup in 2027 with more participants from more countries. We will continue to tackle the global challenge of reducing marine debris through the power of sports.
