In the fall of 2020, the town of Tsushima’s Watazumi Shrine was damaged by a typhoon that struck the area, destroying one of its torii gates that rises out of the bay waters adjacent to the shrine. In the years since, though, the Nagasaki Prefecture Shinto shrine which served as a model for one of the locations in the “Ghost of Tsushima” video game has been dealing with unwanted visitors of a human rather than meteorological nature, and the situation has gotten to the point that Watazumi Shrine has now banned all “tourists” from visiting.
The decision comes after years of frustrations on the part of the shrine in dealing with disrespectful foreign tourists smoking, littering, and spitting inside the shrine grounds. At least one tourist was found riding a mountain bike through a restricted area, and the shrine also claims that tourists have stolen omamori, the good luck amulet charms that are sold by the shrine.
In January of 2020, the shrine voiced its intent to ban all “foreigners” from entering the shrine grounds, but later backed away from the policy. In June of 2024, after a Korean traveler became confrontational after a shrine worker admonished him for throwing his cigarette butt on the ground and spitting inside the shrine grounds, Watazumi announced that it would be barring “Korean people” from entering the site. Now, though, the shrine has decided to extend the ban to “anyone who is not a parishioner or worshipper.”
Watazumi Shrine announced the policy through a March 23 posting on its official Instagram page, opening with:
Important announcement
“As of today, Sunday, March 23, entry to the shrine grounds is forbidden to anyone who is not a parishioner or worshipper. In addition, all photography, video filming and live-streaming of the shrine’s ocean torii gates, buildings, and structures is prohibited.”
Perhaps because the shrine’s previous attempts to ban foreign visitors met with negative reactions, the announcement makes specific mention that the no-tourists-allowed policy applies to Japanese travelers as well.
“In addition, all entry of domestic and foreign bus tours for sightseeing purposes will be rejected.”
However, the rest of the announcement makes it very clear that the shrine’s continuing difficulties with foreign tourists are the catalyst for the decision.
“On Saturday, March 22, at roughly 4 p.m., an immense and unforgivable act of disrespect by a foreign person took place at our shrine.
We have repeatedly discussed such matters with Tsushima city hall, the tourism agency, and the Nagasaki Prefectural Police, but have not been able to arrive at a solution. In addition to the mental anguish caused to our staff from the sacred grounds being violated, they have suffered repeated acts of verbal abuse and physical violence, culminating in an administrative crisis for the shrine.”
The statement, signed by chief priest Shizuyoshi Hirayama and priest Yuchi Hirayama, concludes with:
“The behavior of inbound tourists destroying things and people that Japanese people treasure is nothing less than the destruction of Japanese culture.
We would like to express here our regret at the situation, and are taking action to protect the shrine and human beings’ mental wellbeing.”
However, a ban on tourists would be difficult, if not impossible, for Watazumi Shrine to enforce, at least in its current configuration. While Japan’s largest and most famous shrines have admission gates (i.e. gates where a staff member sells tickets or otherwise regulates entry), the majority, including Watazumi, don’t. A large gate may be placed across the entire entry pathway at night, but at least while the shrine is open to visitors, there’s no one checking visitors on an individual basis and asking what the purpose of their visit is.
▼ Especially at rural shrines, usually you can just walk right in.
In addition, shrines don’t usually have an equivalent to Christian mass or Islamic salah in which a Shinto priest leads a congregation in organized, participative prayers at a set time. Unless someone is visiting a Shinto shrine for specific, reserved-in-advance rites (which are a very rare occasion), worship tends to be very low-key: tossing a coin into the collection box, ringing the bell, and saying a short, silent prayer or wish, which is pretty much the same thing that tourists do at Shinto shrines.
It’s also worth noting that taking pictures of or filming Shinto shrine structures isn’t generally considered sacrilegious, and so the no-photography part of Watazumi’s statement appears to be more a way of weeding out disrespectful YouTubers and social media influencers who can’t be bothered to avoid damaging the shrine grounds while lining up their shots from which to say “Hey, what’s up, guys?”
▼ Pretty much everyone, Japanese or not, who visits Hiroshima Prefecture’s Miyajima takes a picture of the torii, and no one is offended by the practice.
Also important to bear in mind is that even for Japanese people there’s often a tourism/sightseeing element to shrine visits. Many shrines are historically significant, have stunning classical architecture, and gorgeous gardens. While shrines are religious sites, many Japanese people have a relaxed attitude about religion, and secular enjoyment is often as strong a factor for Japanese shrine visitors as spiritual fervor.
It seems as though Watazumi itself may have later realized that its tourist ban was going to be difficult to carry out, and that even if it did find a way to do so it was running the risk of throwing the baby out with the bathwater by banning well-behaved tourists as well. In a follow-up post on its Instagram account, the shrine says that, for the purposes of its new policy, “A worshipper is someone who respects the gods and visits the shrine with a sense of reverence,” and that anyone visiting with that sentiment is welcome. The follow-up also says that visitors are free to take photos while on shrine grounds as long as they maintain that sense of reverence. On the other hand, those who see the shrine as “a theme park or just a place to take buzzworthy pictures” do not fall under the shrine’s definition of “worshippers.”
So as things stand, even though Watazumi isn’t taking back its tourist ban, in effect it’s really more of a “bad-mannered tourist ban,” since the requirement for visitors isn’t devotion to the divinity of the Shinto gods so much as being respectful of the religion. However, the fact that things have gotten to the point where Watazumi has enacted a no-tourists policy, even one with these fine-print allowances, shows that frustrations are still on the rise in many parts of Japan where the sudden rush of inbound foreign tourism is flowing, and underscores the need for travelers to be on their best behavior.
Sources: Instagram/tsushima_watadzumijinja, J-Cast News via Yahoo! Japan News, Search Korea News via Livedoor News
Insert images: Pakutaso, Wikipedia/Fg2
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