US tourist arrested for defacing Tokyo shrine

Shinto priests walk in a line in preparation for the annual end-of-the-year ceremony for New Year’s Eve at Meiji Shrine (Meiji Jingu) in Tokyo on December 31, 2009. FILE PHOTO/Agence France-Presse

TOKYO — A 65-year-old American tourist was arrested for allegedly etching letters onto a traditional wooden gate at a Tokyo shrine, police said Thursday, the latest example of bad behavior by visitors flooding back to Japan post-pandemic.

The traveller reportedly used his fingernails to scratch one of the gate’s pillars as a prank at Meiji Jingu, one of the capital’s most famous shrines.

A police spokeswoman told AFP the man was arrested Wednesday “on suspicion of damaging property” at the shrine complex in the city center.

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The incident comes after a woman from Chile faced an online backlash last month for posting a clip of herself doing pull-up exercises on a red gate at a different Japanese shrine.

The fitness influencer with 139,000 Instagram followers later posted an apology video on the platform, saying it “wasn’t my intention to show disrespect”.

An unprecedented number of tourists are flocking to Japan, which says it wants to welcome 60 million visitors a year by 2030, around double 2019’s full-year record.

But some residents have become fed up with unruly behavior and etiquette breaches, including in tradition-steeped Kyoto, where locals have complained of tourists harassing the city’s famed geisha.

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A town near Mount Fuji in May mounted a large barrier to deter photo-taking at a popular viewing spot beside a convenience store where people were increasingly venturing into the road to get the perfect shot.

The barrier has since been removed, having succeeded in reducing the amount of risky behavior, officials said.

New crowd control measures have also been put in place on the majestic mountain’s most popular hiking trail, which now has an entry fee of 2,000 yen ($13).