In the midst of a surge in outbound tourism, Japan’s latest example of how it is grappling with misbehaving visitors became the victim of an American’s arrest for defacing a reverent Tokyo shrine.
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 instances of theft, public drunkenness, and “overtourism” at popular websites have sparked debate about how to handle the flood of customers and those who flout the rules.
A 65-year-old American was detained on Wednesday ( Nov 13 ) after being suspected of carving alphabetical characters into a Meiji Jingu Shrine’s pillar on Tuesday.
According to the Jiji information services, the suspect and his family made their way to Japan on Monday for sightseeing. According to Jiji, security camera footage led police to his hotel where he is suspected of infecting the wooden pillar with five letters, each representing a household name, with his finger.
A spokesperson for the US Embassy said employees were in the country and are providing consular help, but they declined to provide further information because of privacy concerns.