In Japan, foreign tourists’ misdeeds stir outrage, debate: ‘who does something like that?’

Graffiti at historic shrines, car thefts and other incidents have raised concerns about Japan’s perception of foreigners

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People walk past a torii gate at Meiji shrine in Tokyo. An American tourist was arrested for etching letters into a traditional wooden gate at a Tokyo shrine. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:00am, 18 Nov 2024

Foreign nationals in Japan have been attracting negative attention in recent months, igniting outrage on social media over what many perceive as disrespectful and ignorant behaviour.

The list of offences is long: an American tourist in his 60s was arrested for graffiti at Tokyo’s Meiji Jingu shrine; 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 on a shrine’s “torii” gate.

This growing backlash over these misdeeds is not only coming from the Japanese public but also from long-term foreign residents, who worry that these incidents may lead locals to view all outsiders as troublemakers, jeopardising the livelihoods and relationships they have built in their adopted country.

Scratches are seen on a torii gate at Meiji shrine in Tokyo, in the latest example of bad behaviour by visitors in Japan. Photo: AFP

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

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

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

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

A man bows before he goes through a torii gate that has been fenced off at Meiji shrine. Photo: AFP