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Agence France-Presse

A 65-year-old American tourist was arrested for allegedly etching letters onto a traditional wooden gate at a Tokyo shrine, police said on Thursday, the latest example of bad behaviour by visitors flooding back to Japan post-pandemic.
Steve Hayes, who arrived in Japan for a holiday with his family on Monday, reportedly used his fingernails to scratch one of the gate’s pillars as a prank at Meiji Jingu, one of the capital’s most famous shrines.
Hayes is suspected of carving five letters of the Latin alphabet in a space measuring roughly 5cm by 6cm on the structure at around 11:20am on Tuesday.
A police spokeswoman said the man was arrested on Wednesday “on suspicion of damaging property” at the shrine complex in the city centre.
The incident comes after a woman from Chile faced an online backlash last month for posting a clip of herself doing pull-up exercises on a red gate at a different Japanese shrine.
The fitness influencer with 139,000 Instagram followers later posted an apology video on the platform, saying it “wasn’t my intention to show disrespect”.


An unprecedented number of tourists are flocking to Japan, which says it wants to welcome 60 million visitors a year by 2030, around double 2019’s full-year record.
But some residents have become fed up with unruly behaviour and etiquette breaches, including in tradition-steeped Kyoto, where locals have complained of tourists harassing the city’s famed geisha.
A town near Mount Fuji in May mounted a large barrier to deter photo-taking at a popular viewing spot beside a convenience store where people were increasingly venturing into the road to get the perfect shot.
The barrier has since been removed, having succeeded in reducing the amount of risky behaviour, officials said.
New crowd control measures have also been put in place on the majestic mountain’s most popular hiking trail, which now has an entry fee of 2,000 yen (US$13).
Additional reporting by Kyodo


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Steve Hayes reportedly used his fingernails to scratch letters in a traditional wooden gate at the temple complex


Steve Hayes reportedly used his fingernails to scratch letters in a traditional wooden gate at the temple complex.


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