Japan police arrest American tourist, 65, accused of defacing one of Tokyo’s most iconic shrines

American tourist Steve Hayes was arrested on Wednesday ‘on suspicion of damaging property’ at the Meiji Jingu shrine

An American tourist was arrested in Japan for allegedly defacing a traditional wooden gate at a famous Tokyo shrine by etching letters on it, police said on Thursday.

Steve Hayes, a 65-year-old American, was holidaying in Japan with his family and arrived in the country on Monday. He visited one of Tokyo’s most famous shrines, Meiji Jingu, and allegedly defaced one of its gate’s pillars as a prank by using his fingernails to scratch the surface, reported AFP.

The American tourist is suspected of carving five letters of the Latin alphabet in a space measuring roughly 5cm by 6cm on the pillar on Tuesday morning.

Mr Hayes was arrested on Wednesday “on suspicion of damaging property” at the shrine complex, a police spokeswoman said.

The arrest comes at a time Japan is facing a surge in unruly tourists visiting the country post the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last month, a Chilean influencer posted a clip of doing pull-up exercises on a red gate at a different Japanese shrine, sparking online backlash for “disrespecting” the holy spot.

The influencer, with more than 139,000 followers on Instagram, later apologised in a video and said it “was not my intention to show disrespect”.

Japan is witnessing an unprecedented surge in the number of tourists visiting the east Asian country. The country has said it wants to welcome 60 million tourists a year in the next five-six years, doubling its own record from 2019, before the pandemic torpedoed its tourism economy.

Earlier this year, Japan set a record high for monthly tourists in June, as its weak yen fuelled a tourism boom that is becoming a key driver for the economy.

While traveller spending has been a boon for the economy, the masses of people at visitor hot spots has rankled some locals and prompted concerns among policymakers.

In July, authorities imposed admission fees and hiker limits on sacred Mt Fuji amid concerns of crowded trails and increased littering.

The mayor of Himeji in western Japan also suggested charging foreigners about six times the rate residents pay to enter the city’s famous samurai-era castle.

In another episode of unruly tourism, tourists eager to see Japan’s Mount Fuji were seen poking holes in a new barrier designed to prevent bad behaviour at a popular panoramic spot.

The installation of a black mesh screen in Fujikawaguchiko was completed and was carried out by officials in Yamanashi prefecture after locals became increasingly frustrated with the influx of foreign visitors who were littering, trespassing and breaking traffic rules in a bid to capture social media worthy perfect photos.