TOKYO (Reuters) – An American detained for ruining a spiritual Tokyo shrine ended up being the most recent example of Japan’s battle to handle misbehaving visitors amidst a boom in incoming tourist.
Japan invited almost 27 million visitors through September, a record speed, and their costs included 5.86 trillion yen ($37.5 billion) to the economy. Events of vandalism, public drunkenness, and “overtourism” at popular websites have actually stimulated argument about how to manage the flood of visitors and those who flout the guidelines.
Tokyo Metropolitan Police verified the arrest of a 65-year-old American on Wednesday on suspicion of sculpting alphabetical characters into the pillar of a torii gate of the Meiji Jingu Shrine on Tuesday.
The suspect and his household showed up in Japan for sightseeing on Monday, the Jiji news service stated. Security cam video led cops to apprehend him at his hotel on suspicion of utilizing his fingernail to engrave 5 letters representing household names into the wood pillar, Jiji stated.
U.S. Embassy personnel went to the American and are offering consular support, a representative stated, decreasing to provide additional information due to personal privacy issues.
The case follows 2 events this year of graffiti scrawled on a pillar at Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine that is connected with Japan’s wartime past. Authorities acquired arrest warrants for 3 Chinese nationals as suspects, according to the Asahi paper.
In October, a Chilean physical fitness influencer triggered outrage for publishing a video of her doing pull-ups on a torii gate in Japan. She later on erased the video and published an apology.
Flocks of travelers have actually required authorities to take extreme steps to suppress overcrowding and litter. In May, a village near Mt. Fuji put up a barrier to obstruct a view of Japan’s spiritual mountain that had actually ended up being viral online. Mountain park rangers this summertime enacted path charges and entry limitations for the very first time to suppress overuse.
And in October, Tokyo’s Shibuya district concealed its renowned pet statue Hachiko and imposed restrictions on drinking in the streets to avoid overcrowding and mischief throughout Halloween.
($1 = 156.3800 yen)