TOKYO: An American arrested for defacing a sacred Tokyo shrine became the latest example of Japan’s struggle to cope with misbehaving visitors amid a boom in inbound tourism.
Japan welcomed nearly 27 million visitors through September, a record pace, and their spending added 5.86 trillion yen (US$37.5 billion) to the economy. But incidents of vandalism, public drunkenness, and “overtourism” at popular sites have sparked debate about how to handle the flood of visitors and those who flout the rules.
Tokyo Metropolitan Police confirmed the arrest of a 65-year-old American on Wednesday (Nov 13) on suspicion of carving alphabetical characters into the pillar of a torii gate of the Meiji Jingu Shrine on Tuesday.
The suspect and his family arrived in Japan for sightseeing on Monday, the Jiji news service said. Security camera footage led police to arrest him at his hotel on suspicion of using his fingernail to etch five letters representing family names into the wooden pillar, Jiji said.
US Embassy staff visited the American and are providing consular assistance, a spokesperson said, declining to give further details due to privacy concerns.
