Disrespectful Foreign Tourists Force Closure of Japanese Shrine Fixed by Ghost of Tsushima Fans

Yet again, Western tourists legitimizing every xenophobic impulse still present in the Japanese psyche. 😐

People like Johnny Somali have done more to damage relations with foreign countries than any political policy. They go to these places and expect to be catered to or forgiven and it upsets me greatly. Do research before you take a trip somewhere. Learn the Dos and Don'ts. Not only will you have a better time during your vacation but the locals there will respect you more for taking the time to understand their rich culture and traditions.

To my mind, traveling to another country is like being invited into someone else's home. If they're a proper host, they'll make you feel comfortable and at ease, but at the same time, there's an implicit understanding that you're still just a visitor, and it's not your place to disrespect their property or customs while you're a guest in their care.

I remember the article here on the site when the fans helped fund the repair of it, so seeing that it was disrespected is such a disappointment.

Lousy gaijin!

I've seen a lot of videos about foreign especially western tourist who acted disrespectful and beyond disgusting when they visited Japan.

But i think all this was started / popularized by Logan Paul who video a dead body in the suicide forest. Now there's brainless streamer like Johnny Somali and his "friends" doing nasty stuff in Japan, all just for clout and clicks 😡

Sadly these tourist always get away or received light punishment. But hopefully, South Korea court could give a heavy punishment for Johnny Somali to send a message towards these brain rot tourist...

That really gets under my skin… some people just aren’t aware of themselves or their surroundings a lot of the time. I sadly write this as an overly aware westerner. Between the whole Trump presidency crap and now this I’m so ashamed to be a westerner. 😫
Edit: turns out, it wasn’t westerners 😮‍💨

Rule of thumb: Would it piss you off if someone defaced a church or a mosque? Then don't do it to someone else's holy land.

@FuriousMachine I agree. I was trying to find the appropriate wording to convey the exact same opinion but you very eloquently beat me to it.

So according to Soranews24 this is what happened:
"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."

I have many words for such behavior but they'd get me banned so I'll leave it at that.

Here's the article for those interested:
https://soranews24.com/2025/03/25/real-life-ghost-of-tsushima-shrine-announces-ban-of-all-tourists-but-theres-some-fine-print/

@PuppetMaster @ChromaticDracula @Ralizah @breakneck

The people who disrespected the shrine were not ‘Western’ or ‘Caucasian’.

Please try not jump to conclusions or broad brush groups without knowing the information.

Sadly, it appears it was Asian tourists who were doing the disrespecting. Smoking, dropping cigarette butts, spitting, throwing stones, allegedly a case of defacation, and the final straw was a staff member getting assaulted.

My family is Asian (it wasn’t us! 😅) so I’m not writing this to blame a group or looking at the ‘other’.

This is not about race. This is not about culture. This is about a few individual bad actors who has ruined a nice thing for many other tourists who visited the shrine and were respectful.

@FuriousMachine Thank you for pointing out the problem being the character of individual people, not their background.

@get2sammyb if you want to update the article as there is more information available now. I’m sad to say it looks like it was South Korean tourists (the comment above links to an article with more information and here is a link to images: https://x.com/mrjeffu/status/1904327369982132731). The vagueness of ‘who done it’ can sometimes lead people to make their own minds without the facts. Ultimately these acts should not smear any group but the individuals who did it.

Also, the shrine will still allow foreign tourists (although more restricted), but they must show respect or they won’t be allowed entry.

@ATaco I never heard of him but looking him up and seeing that he is currently stuck in South Korea awaiting trial made be happy

@Simu001 This makes me feel less sad about it being banned for tourists. Genuinely ***** tourists like that.

@Nepp67 Absolutely. I'm an atheist but never in a million years would the thought of behaving like that at such a revered place cross my mind. Let alone do so on purpose. It is one thing to maybe step a tiny bit out of line because you didn't know, but if people tell you to stop then just stop. I also feel sorry for the staff that have to deal with these tourists. Where has the respect and coppassion for eachother gone? It's just sad.

Man by the time I get to travel to Japan everything I want to visit will be off-limits because of these Tik-Tok jack-*****.

How hard is it to not be a disrespectful moron?

Always absolutely crazy that people can’t just respect their surroundings, morons in every way, hopefully whoever caused said damage is thrown in a cell and fined HEAVILY.

@Kienda I'm not saying all the brain rot tourist are from western. I also knew that asian tourist which a lot of them from China always cause trouble.

But what i said is this trend of brain rot tourist especially from western doing nasty stuff in Japan is possibly started by Logan Paul and he's a westerner. Then Johnny Somali and his followers that i watched are also westerners. Before Logan Paul, i rarely hear anything about foreign tourist behave badly in Japan.

Surely not all asian and western tourist behave like these people. But these 'awesome' individuals certainly gave a negative impact and bad stigma towards their own country.

@Kienda great post! I literally (and I mean that literally) cringed when I read the blame being placed on an ethnicity.

@Kienda It's good to have that context, thank you.

I don’t understand why people vandalize property. Same with graffiti. What compels a person to destroy something that is just there? Too many people unable to function in society.

@PuppetMaster yeah, that’s fair enough. There is a lot of brain rot in the world and definitely a few have influenced many in a not so positive way.

@Kienda thank you for this!! I’d buy you a caffeinated bevvie if I could

@ChromaticDracula they are aware but they just don't care. So long as they get their selfie or TikTok video then why would they care?

@tangyzesty yep its the West, you win

Blood boil, indeed!

A-holes really do ruin everything for the rest of us. It takes a serious amount of egotism and selfishness to do something like this.

This is so sad.

@arsmolinarc - It wasn't Westerners though, maybe read the comments before speedrunning to post your xenophobic assumptions.

@Simu001 thank you! That was so much more informative than the article. 😃