TOKYO (Reuters) – An American arrested for defacing a sacred Tokyo shrine turned the newest instance of Japan’s wrestle to deal with misbehaving guests amid a increase in inbound tourism.
Japan welcomed practically 27 million guests by September, a document tempo, and their spending added 5.86 trillion yen ($37.5 billion) to the economic system. However incidents of vandalism, public drunkenness, and “overtourism” at standard websites have sparked debate about the way to deal with the flood of tourists and those that flout the principles.
Tokyo Metropolitan Police confirmed the arrest of a 65-year-old American on Wednesday on suspicion of carving alphabetical characters into the pillar of a torii gate of the Meiji Jingu Shrine on Tuesday.
The suspect and his household arrived in Japan for sightseeing on Monday, the Jiji information service stated. Safety digicam footage led police to arrest him at his resort on suspicion of utilizing his fingernail to etch 5 letters representing household names into the picket pillar, Jiji stated.
U.S. Embassy workers visited the American and are offering consular help, a spokesperson stated, declining to present additional particulars on account of privateness considerations.
The case follows two incidents this 12 months of graffiti scrawled on a pillar at Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine that’s affiliated with Japan’s wartime previous. Police obtained arrest warrants for 3 Chinese language nationals as suspects, in keeping with the Asahi newspaper.
In October, a Chilean health influencer sparked outrage for posting a video of her doing pull-ups on a torii gate in Japan. She later deleted the video and posted an apology.
Flocks of vacationers have pressured authorities to take drastic measures to curb overcrowding and litter. In Might, a small city close to Mt. Fuji erected a barrier to dam a view of Japan’s sacred mountain that had turn out to be viral on-line. Mountain park rangers this summer time enacted path charges and entry limits for the primary time to curb overuse.
And in October, Tokyo’s Shibuya district coated up its iconic canine statue Hachiko and enforced bans on consuming within the streets to stop overcrowding and mischief throughout Halloween.
($1 = 156.3800 yen)
