In Japan, the misdeeds of foreign tourists cause outrage and debate: ‘who does such a thing?’

On By Pranco

Strangers inside Japan have received negative attention in recent months, sparking outrage on social media over what many see as disrespectful and ignorant behavior.
The list of violations is long: an American tourist in his 60s was arrested for graffiti at Meiji Jingu Shrine in Tokyo; four Sri Lankans were questioned in connection with the theft of 220 cars; a Chinese woman was accused of running an illegal brothel; a British man is linked to a 13 million yen (US$83,200) theft; and a Chilean woman was filmed doing pull-ups at the ‘torii’ gate of a shrine.

This growing response to these outrages comes not only from the Japanese public, but also from long-term foreign residents, who worry that these incidents could lead locals to view all outsiders as troublemakers, threatening the livelihoods and relationships they built up in their adopted country are in danger. .

Scratches can be seen on a torii gate at Tokyo's Meiji Shrine, the latest example of bad visitor behavior in Japan. Photo: AFP
Scratches can be seen on a torii gate at Tokyo’s Meiji Shrine, the latest example of bad visitor behavior in Japan. Photo: AFP

“When I read about the American tourists defacing Meiji Jingu, I was furious,” said Eric Fior, a French citizen who owns an education company in Yokohama and has lived in Japan for 25 years.

“Part of the reason I choose to stay here is the history and culture that is all around us, and then we hear of a tourist doing this in one of Japan’s most famous and important temples,” he said to This Week in Asia. . “Who does something like that?”

Disbelief spread social media among foreign residents, with many calling for 65-year-old Steve Hayes – the US citizen arrested for vandalism at a shrine – to be punished for an act he reportedly told police was a “joke”.

“I don’t know about other long-term non-Japanese residents, but people like Steve leave me deeply ashamed and shaking my head in disbelief,” said one user on the Japan Today website.

A man bows before passing through a torii gate fenced off at the Meiji Shrine. Photo: AFP
A man bows before passing through a torii gate fenced off at the Meiji Shrine. Photo: AFP