American tourist detained for defacing Tokyo's Meiji Jingu shrine
A 65-year-old U.S. citizen was detained by Japanese police on charges of damaging the wooden torii gate of one of Tokyo's most visited shrines, Meiji Jingu.
Officers arrested the American tourist on Thursday, accusing him of defacing one of the pillars of the traditional Torii gate by scratching a few letters with his fingernail. The detainee admitted to the charges, explaining that he carved the letters as a joke. The 65-year-old arrived in Japan on Monday for a holiday with his family.
Local media have not disclosed what penalty the suspect might face, and the police have not provided details about the content of the carved symbols. This is yet another recent incident of this kind.
On Sunday, carvings resembling Chinese characters were discovered on another gate leading to the Meiji Jingu shrine. This week, the police also launched an investigation after finding a symbol meaning "death" in two places on a stone wall of the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo.
In June and August, the pillars of the Yasukuni shrine gate were covered with inscriptions of "toilet" in English and Chinese. Yasukuni is a controversial place, as it commemorates over 2 million Japanese who died in World War II, including 14 politicians and military commanders recognized as war criminals by the international tribunal.
Meiji Jingu Shrine
The shrine was completed and dedicated to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken in 1920, eight years after the Emperor's death and six years after the Empress's death. The shrine was destroyed during the war but was soon rebuilt. Since then, it has been one of the regular spots visited by tourists coming to Tokyo.
Visitors to the site can participate in typical Shinto activities, such as making offerings in the main hall. In the first days of the New Year, millions visit the shrine to perform the year's first prayers—no other shrine or sanctuary registers such numbers.
