Tokyo's Shibuya ward plans to implement on-the-spot fines for litterbugs amid rising visitor numbers and litter issues.

Tokyo’s Shibuya ward – home to the famous scramble crossing and one of the Japanese capital’s busiest shopping and nightlife districts – is abandoning its long-standing policy of asking people to take their rubbish home. Instead, it is turning to on-the-spot fines as visitor numbers surge and litter piles up. Under a new campaign branded “If you throw trash, you lose cash”, anyone caught dropping rubbish will be fined 2,000 yen (US$12.50), with enforcement starting on June 1 after a grace...