May 20 (News On Japan) –
Video footage seems to indicate graffiti being carved into bamboo at Kyoto’s Fushimi Inari Taisha, with witnesses claiming two overseas guests have been concerned within the vandalism.
The footage reveals an individual believed to be a overseas vacationer repeatedly reaching towards a bit of bamboo and shifting their hand in opposition to its floor.
Several items of graffiti have been later discovered carved into close by bamboo stalks.
The incident occurred at Fushimi Inari Taisha, the historic shrine believed to have been based in the course of the Nara interval and identified lately as one in every of Kyoto’s hottest locations for overseas vacationers.
The video was filmed on May sixteenth. One of the 2 people seen within the footage seems to rub an object held of their hand in opposition to bamboo lining the shrine method.
The footage was recorded by Nguyen, a Vietnamese man dwelling in Japan, who described what he witnessed.
“There were not many people around, so I noticed two foreigners doing something strange,” Nguyen stated. “They were doing something bad. They were writing on the bamboo.”
Nguyen, who had been visiting the shrine alone, stated he started filming the pair whereas additionally confronting them about their actions.
“I don’t like getting involved in situations like this, but I felt really angry,” he stated. “I was frustrated inside, so I warned them.”
Although he stated he felt afraid, Nguyen reportedly requested the pair, “What are you doing?” According to him, they responded in English, saying, “Nothing.”
Nguyen added that the pair then threw away the stone they’d allegedly been utilizing.
The shrine has confronted repeated issues involving vandalism lately.
Graffiti found on one other part of bamboo included carved private names and markings. A bamboo shoot farmer who discovered the injury stated comparable vandalism had already been noticed throughout the Fushimi Inari grounds in March 2026.
“It could have been done with a knife, a coin, or something sharp,” stated the proprietor of a Kyoto bamboo shoot specialty store. “Maybe they do it as a memory of visiting Japan.”
Similar acts of graffiti on bamboo have additionally turn out to be a problem in Kyoto’s in style Arashiyama district lately.
Fushimi Inari Taisha has posted warnings about graffiti on its official web site and is urging guests to look at correct manners whereas visiting the shrine.
Source: FNN