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A Japanese Visual Arts Trope. Rather than using mops, the characters take a wet towel in their hands, put it against the floor, and run back and forth putting pressure on it. Looks unusual to Westerners in that their backs are straight while their legs are running; most Westerners would either be on their knees scrubbing, or use a mop.

Often a Genki Girl or other energetic character is shown running insanely fast while doing this.


Examples:

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    Anime & Manga 
  • Keiichi is forced to do this to pay for his room and board to a Buddhist monk in the Ah! My Goddess anime.
  • In From Up on Poppy Hill, during the remodeling of Quartier Latin, a few background characters are seen doing this.
  • Lucy (as Nyu) does this in the Elfen Lied anime. In the OVA, Nana tries this, but trips and loses her arms.
  • Spirited Away: This is how the bathhouse workers clean. To demonstrate Chihiro/Sen's status as the new girl, she's shown lagging behind as the rest of the workers sprint past her twice.
  • X1999: Sorata is shown cleaning his temple this way.
  • Happens in Rurouni Kenshin.
  • Seen in Love Hina as part of Motoko's efforts to "become a normal woman" after she (temporarily) abandons bushido.
  • Patamon and Takeru do this when they help clean Piccolomon's house in Digimon Adventure.
  • This how the two girls clean house in My Neighbor Totoro as well.
  • Done by the main characters in Ah My Buddha on occasion.
  • In Harukanaru Toki no Naka de - Maihitoyo Akane is spotted doing this at one point (nearly running over Shimon in the process).
  • Filler episode 312 of Bleach has Soi Fon doing this - but because she's Soi Fon, the "sprint" turns into The Flash-style superspeed.
  • Ohana in Hanasaku Iroha has to do this. And so did her grandmother Sui during the latter's younger years.
  • During Operation High Tension of Angel Beats!, Takamatsu, Noda, Hinata, and Otonashi reject using mops and opt to use dust clothes to clean and race around the hallways.

    Films — Live-Action 
  • In the Surreal Horror film Hausu (House in the Criterion release), Sweet cleans the floors this way as a kind gesture to the infirmed spinster who lives in the titular house. It does nothing to save her. The house eats her by smothering her under futons in the linen closet.

    Live-Action TV 

    Video Games 

    Real Life 
  • Recruits going through basic training in the United States Marine Corps use this in place of mops to clean the floor of their squad bays each morning. This is done for a few reasons: it builds discipline, it acts as a form of exercise, and it actually gets the job done faster than a mop and bucket.
    • Many martial arts academies, particularly karate dojos, also do this for the same reasons.

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