The Japanese are obsessed with keeping things clean and new looking. That means that they see ordinary wear or mundane staining as unacceptable. To this end, they seem to think pouring bleach all over everything is good. At my office, coffee and tea cups were regularly bleached en masse, as were tea pots. The office manager even tried to bleach dirty trash cans (which didn't work as they required elbow grease). None of these things were actually dirty, and certainly not dirty in a way that bleach could clean.
Even if the bleached dishes, clothes, and whatever else bleach can be used on is safe, it's not the best thing for the environment and I won't miss the high level of usage of bleach in Japan or the smell associated with it.
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