ONE of the most common concerns these days seems to be the poor state Brighton has found itself in, from the litter on the streets to the graffiti all over the city walls.

Most recently a letter to The Argus highlighted the litter alongside the A27.

I’ve just returned from Japan and in two weeks of travelling thought the country I didn’t see one piece of litter, cigarette end or a single bit of graffiti.

I asked a local guide we had in Tokyo how they achieved such high levels of cleanliness.

She told me it starts in schools at a very early age, each day pupils are encouraged to take part in a rota to clean their school and this teaches them to respect their environment outside of school, at home, in the streets, parks and even on public transport.

Shop owners take pride in the street outside their shop, whole neighbourhoods take pride in their own streets and everyone takes their rubbish home with them (they don’t even eat or smoke on the streets).

If we are ever going to solve the problem of litter and graffiti perhaps we need to learn a lesson from Japan?

We need to introduce a radical approach including education in schools, task forces in the community and stricter by-laws and policing and above all rather than leaving it to someone else or blame the council each and every one of us needs to get involved.

Let’s all stop complaining and do something about it.

Name and address supplied