A Japanese shrine famous to video game fans has announced a ban on visits by tourists, following an “unforgivable act of disrespect”.
In 2021, Ghost of Tsushima players helped the Tsushima Watatzumi Shrine shrine raise 27m yen (£192k) to repair its Torii gate, after it was destroyed in a typhoon. The crowdfunding campaign ultimately raised 500 per cent of its original target.
Now, however, the Watazumi Shrine has announced a total ban on tourist visits, after an incident occured earlier this week on 23rd March described only as “a grave and unforgivable act of disrespect committed by foreigner(s)”.
Further details of the incident have not been released, though a message on the Watazumi Shrine’s social media accounts states that, going forward, only worshippers will be allowed entrance.
Unacceptable behaviour by tourists at the Watazumi Shrine is nothing new, Automaton reports, and a previous, controversial ban had seen South Korean visitors barred, after incidents of vandalism and abuse directed towards staff.
Now, all tourists – domestic and foreign – are banned.
“Inbound tourism’s destruction of places, things, and people cherished by the Japanese is nothing less than the destruction of Japanese culture,” the shrine’s message states.
“Those who consider this place a theme park or simply a photogenic location are not worshippers.”
Last week, Assassin’s Creed Shadows quietly released an update that reduced the amount of destruction possible by players in the game’s version of shrines, after pre-release footage of a player causing damage sparked concern.