Street Food Trash Becomes a 50 Yen Discount Coupon! 'Gomi-wari' (Trash Discount) Starts at Yamamura Milk School on May 18

Yamamura Milk Industry Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: 3-5-8 Oseko, Ise City, Mie Prefecture; President: Toyohiro Yamamura), which boasts the largest variety of bottled dairy products in Japan*, will implement a limited-time project called 'Gomi-wari' (Trash Discount) at its Yamamura Milk School Naiku-mae store. During the campaign, customers who bring in trash from street food, etc., during their sightseeing will receive a 50 yen discount on their purchase. The implementation period is scheduled from May 18 (Monday) to August 2 (Sunday), 2026. A test run has been conducted since May 11 (Monday) prior to the full implementation. *Based on our own research (as of December 2025). In 2026, the Mikihiki event for the 63rd Jingu Shikinen Sengu will be held, and the town of Ise is expected to receive more visitors than usual. On the other hand, there are few trash cans in tourist areas, and people often find themselves at a loss for where to dispose of their trash after eating street food. Therefore, our company will implement 'Gomi-wari' as an effort to keep the town of Ise even a little cleaner. It is a system that gives back a 50 yen discount on purchases to those who bring in trash, rather than a cash buy-back. Since our founding, we have been a milk company that has cherished the culture of returnable bottles—collecting, washing, and reusing them. This initiative is not just a discount project, but a way for us, as a store in a tourist area, to give shape to the Yamamura Milk way of thinking: 'how to handle what we've used' and 'how to face what we throw away.' What is 'Gomi-wari'? 'Gomi-wari' is an initiative where customers who bring trash from street food, etc., during their sightseeing to the Yamamura Milk School store receive a 50 yen discount on their purchase. Eligible items include packaging trash from street food, PET bottles, empty cans, paper scraps, plastic trash, etc. Containers and packaging trash from products purchased at Yamamura Milk School are also eligible. The discount is up to 50 yen per transaction. Regardless of the amount or number of trash items, the discount is a flat 50 yen maximum. For a group, even if the bill is split, the total discount limit is 50 yen. Household trash, business trash, hazardous materials, and large-sized trash are not eligible. We will also collect only trash, but we do not offer cash buy-backs, and the discount is only applied at the time of purchase. Background In Ise, the Mikihiki event for the 63rd Jingu Shikinen Sengu will be held in 2026, and it will be a time when many people visit the town. In recent years, as overtourism has become a challenge in tourist destinations nationwide, there are few trash cans in tourist areas, and many people have trouble finding a place for their packaging trash and beverage containers after eating street food. As a store operating in the representative tourist spots of Ise, Geku-mae and Naiku-mae, Yamamura Milk School considered whether we could not only sell products but also work with visitors to keep the town clean. 'Gomi-wari' was born from this idea. By giving a 50 yen discount to those who bring trash, we made it a mechanism that is easy for tourists to participate in, not just a cleaning activity. Comment from Takuya Yamamura, Business Manager, Yamamura Milk Industry Co., Ltd. Yamamura Milk is a milk company that has long handled returnable bottles. We collect, wash, and reuse the bottles. It is because we have continued our business within this culture of circulation that we have a strong company-wide commitment to how we handle what we've used and how we face what we throw away. 'Gomi-wari' is not just a project for a 50 yen discount. It is an effort to make the town a little cleaner together with the customers who visit Ise. While serving customers at the store, I sometimes see them holding onto their post-street-food trash, unsure of where to throw it away. I feel that the trash problem in tourist areas is an issue that not only the government but also we private companies doing business in the town must address. I hope that this initiative will not only increase the number of places to receive trash but also serve as a small catalyst for visitors to Ise and those who welcome them to keep the town pleasant together. What is Yamamura Milk School? We named it Yamamura Milk School with the hope that customers can experience the deliciousness of milk and milk-based products and the culture surrounding milk. Based on the nostalgic milk stand format, the Geku-mae store is a take-out specialty store, while the Naiku-mae store has a take-out counter and an eat-in space. Both stores cherish a nostalgic atmosphere, with a colorful array of bottled dairy products displayed in the showcases. In addition, we have created a special space that offers an extraordinary experience, using our milk bottles for lighting, displaying lids of bottled dairy products, and using actual school desks and chairs. Our customers range from men and women in their 20s and 30s to families and residents of Ise City, with over 120,000 customers visiting us annually. We sell our signature products such as Yamamura Milk, Yamamura Yogurt, and Yamamura Pudding, as well as our No. 1 popular menu item, Yamamura Pudding Soft, which sells over 70,000 units annually, and various other dairy products we manufacture. Yamamura Milk School store introduction: https://yamamuramilk.co.jp/?mode=f1 About Yamamura Milk Yamamura Milk is a dairy product manufacturer founded in 1919 (Taisho 8) in Ujiyamada City (now Ise City), Mie Prefecture. We celebrated our 100th anniversary in 2019, and the current representative, Toyohiro Yamamura, is the third generation. We have faithfully preserved the now-rare practice of manufacturing in glass bottles since our founding. In response to customer feedback, we manufacture and sell 60 products in 18 categories, including our signature 'Yamamura Milk,' 'Yamamura Coffee,' 'Yamamura Fruit,' 'Yamamura Yogurt,' and 'Yamamura Pudding,' as well as ice cream and confectionery. Among them, bottled dairy products number 47 types in 14 categories, boasting the most extensive product lineup in Japan. What we have cherished for many years is the pasteurization method, which affects the taste and flavor of milk. We use pasteurization. Pasteurization kills bacteria harmful to the human body while causing almost no heat denaturation of the proteins in the milk, so it is slowly digested and absorbed in the body along with calcium. In addition, the original taste and flavor of the milk are preserved. It can be compared to the difference between 'cooking rice in an iron pot versus an aluminum pot.' Just as rice cooked in a low-temperature, long-time iron pot is delicious compared to a high-temperature, short-time aluminum pot, the same can be said for milk. Pasteurization at 85°C for 15 minutes is the secret to the deliciousness of Yamamura Milk. Yamamura Milk and Yamamura Yogurt are selected products for the Mie Food Selection, chosen by Mie Prefecture and food experts for their distinctive and excellent qualities. Regarding sales channels, in addition to home delivery in Ise City and its suburbs, we have a wide range of channels including Yamamura Milk's direct sales stores 'Yamamura Milk School Geku-mae Store and Naiku-mae Store,' 'Yamamura Milk Ice Cream Factory Direct Sales Store,' as well as supermarkets, department stores, Mie Prefecture's antenna shop 'Mie Terrace,' hotels and ryokans in the Ise-Shima region, and our official online store. Company Profile Trade Name: Yamamura Milk Industry Co., Ltd. Representative: Toyohiro Yamamura Location: 3-5-8 Oseko, Ise City, Mie Prefecture 516-0079 Founded: 1919 Business: Manufacturing, processing, and sales of dairy products, store management Capital: 3 million yen URL: https://yamamuramilk.co.jp/