Haruko Niitsu is a cleaner who makes Tokyo's Haneda Airport one of the world's cleanest with her professional cleaning team.
She is also a teacher who guides people to make a better life with a simple duster cloth. The Chinese-born Japanese woman has published four books in which cleaning becomes one of the most interesting things in the world.
Niitsu, a cleaning craftswoman, who takes pride in her job and makes extraordinary achievements in a seemingly ordinary post through her hard work and a caring heart.
For most foreign travelers, airport gives them first impression of a country. At Haneda Airport, Niitsu, monickered the "God of Cleaning," is showcasing the "World's Cleanest Airport" awarded by global aviation research firm Skytrax.
For many people, cleaning is probably a dirty, tiring work rather than a decent job. "Professional cleaning, which requires lots of technical skills and knowledge, is not simple physical work that anyone can do," Niitsu told Xinhua at Haneda Airport.
In Japan, people can earn respect and admiration if they possess exquisite craft in a certain field, especially in the traditional handicraft industry like cooking and cleaning. They are called Shokunin (craftsperson or artisan) in Japanese and Niitsu is one of them.
This title is of course hardly won. Niitsu made strenuous efforts to become a renowned craftswoman.
She was born in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, to a Japanese father, who was a war orphan left behind in the country by defeated Japanese troops in the 1940s, and a Chinese mother.
In 1987, the 17-year-old girl came to Japan. With almost no knowledge of the Japanese language and no academic qualifications, cleaning seems to be the most realistic job for her to make a living and she has done the job for 29 years.
At the 760,000-square-meter airport, Niitsu did almost every kind of cleaning job and therefore accumulated expertise in professional cleaning.
"I don't settle for anything but the best," Niitsu said, adding that she made unremitting efforts to achieve perfection at work.
"For example, there are several kinds of detergents aimed for one stain, but some of them may contain harmful ingredient to the elderly, the children and even the pets. So the cleaner must pay special attention to that," Niitsu said. As she learned the usage of 80 kinds of different detergents, she could not only apply a detergent to stains according to their features, but make specific "prescription" for some stubborn ones.
Many of her colleagues and even other companies will ask her for advice when they encounter a difficulty in cleaning.
Niitsu's success not only lies in the skills she possesses, but her mindfulness for details as well. For example, she wipes the fingerprint on a window as it must be crystal clear and she will move a chair to ensure there is no dust or trash inside when there is no customers.
Niitsu also keeps an elegant cleaning pose when she sweeps and mops the floor and after the cleaning, she will put the dirty side of the tools in the cleaning cart in case it touches the passengers.
As her story was widely reported by the Japanese media, Niitsu become a household celebrity throughout Japan and her fans came to the airport to express their admiration and took photos with her.
A passenger named Miyazaki told Xinhua that before the media reported her story, he took the cleanliness of the airport for granted. "I'm touched by her spirit as not so many people are as diligent as her nowadays."
Niitsu always smiles when working as she loves her job and finds joy in it. "My love for the job makes me forget the fatigue," she said. In order to make more money and obtain the qualification certificates, Niitsu worked more than 10 hours every day during the first 10 years in Japan. In 1997, Niisu shoot to fame after becoming the youngest winner in a national cleaning contest.
Niitsu is now a manager, leading a 700-people cleaning team. "I teach my staff the clean methods and how to put themselves completely into cleaning. To achieve that goal, I try to solve their personal problems and bring joy to them."
The cheerful and eager spirit of Niitsu has moved and encouraged her colleagues. Shinji Oinuma, director of the general division of Japan Airport Techno Company, said Niitsu's caring for the staff and her persistence in work has won acclaims.
"Fame is nothing to me. What I care most is cleaning itself. If you only pay attention to other people's words, you'll get lost and forget about what you should do," Niitsu said.
She said she is still learning and tries to share her experiences with others through lectures, TV shows and books.
