How People Hang Things Up to Dry In Japan · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

“Gosei-nish 20L.” (A “gosei” is a staff with pleated paper streamers used for Shinto ceremonies). Photo by Flickr user m-louis .®. License: Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)
In a post that's been viewed 330,000 times, ppp_com, a member of Japanese blogging site Matomer Naver, has compiled a collection of tweets devoted to what Lifehacker Japan in 2012 identified as “the world's most boring chore” — doing the laundry.
According to the tweets ppp_com has tracked down, the worst thing for many Japanese people is not exactly doing the laundry itself, but the hanging it out to dry part. The tweets the Matome Naver blogger has collected describe the toil of hanging laundry, as well as some fun methods Japanese people have come up with to make the chore more enjoyable.
洗濯物干すの嫌いなんだよなぁ…
掃除とか料理とか整頓とかは手間だと思わないのに洗濯物だけは嫌い。ほんとに。
— かみじるさん (@syl_14cm) April 27, 2017
Man, I really hate hanging up laundry to dry. I don't mind cleaning, cooking or tidying up–I just hate doing the laundry. I really do.
だいっ嫌いな洗濯終わった??
『だって』干すの面倒だから(>_<)
— . . . (@sumusu2) April 27, 2017
The much-hated laundry chore is complete. ?? Why do I hate it so? Hanging laundry to dry. (>_<)
Some people have fun hanging clothes…
干し方… pic.twitter.com/hKMttMdEoQ
— A Y U (@ayunoko) April 22, 2017
How I hang up clothes…
ビブの干し方 pic.twitter.com/vRglgRf19D
— さくらのもり (@sakuranomori09) April 15, 2017
How I hang up by cycling bib shorts to dry.
…while others appear to be indifferent to the task.
たつや干し方えぐいやん
明日着るつもりやた白ティーこんなんじゃ着れへんやん、明日殺す pic.twitter.com/nfrmWmOSvR
— kazuma. (@k_txx14) April 21, 2017
The way Tatsuya hangs up clothes is really gross. There's no way I can put on the white T-shirt I was planning to wear tomorrow.
Some families seem to have their own special way of hanging up clothes:
うちん家の、洗濯物の干し方は、
こうなる笑 pic.twitter.com/RTFtB4DmHk
— mokk♪ (@MokkMusica) April 23, 2017
This is how we hang up clothes at our house, lol.
チビ達に靴洗いの手伝いを頼んだら…。干し方がかなり芸術的?で朝から大笑いw モズの早贄？?に見えなくも無いねっ?^^; pic.twitter.com/Gu9y0nDX67
— Boud (@Boud006) December 31, 2016
What happens when you ask your resident ankle-biters to help with washing their shoes… The way they hung up the shoes is approaching a work of art, and has kept me laughing all morning. An early-morning offer to the birds? […]
Some people pay special attention to some items in the wash, while neglecting others.
左:汎用タオルの干し方
右:大切なタオルの干し方 pic.twitter.com/n7WnPw1I67
— すぎともひろ (@honestman_48) April 17, 2017
On the left: How I hang up towels I don't really care about.
On the right: How I hang up towels I really care about.
[Note: the Twitter user seems to be a fan of AK48 ‘idol’ Ozeki Rika, and is not such a fan of the Orix Buffaloes baseball team, from Osaka in western Japan.]
One of the biggest challenges appears to be how to hang up soft toys to dry after a wash:
ぬいぐるみ洗ったんだけど干し方が分からなかったからこうしました 何か楽しそうな表情じゃない？笑 pic.twitter.com/JQ2tdrUoom
— リョウタ (@juventus_Azzuri) April 22, 2017
When it comes to washing [soft toys], I have no idea how to hang them up to dry, so this is what I did. Although doesn't it look like it's enjoying itself, lol?
しろくまの干し方 pic.twitter.com/qFdoyuwONx
— さとみ (@0stmi) April 4, 2017
How I hang up my polar bear to dry.
More tweets about laundry can be found here.