Foreign tourist angers locals for doing pull-ups on torii gate at shrine in Japan - Japan Today

As the number of foreign tourists to Japan soars to record highs, so to do the number of overseas travelers caught behaving badly during their visits. With higher-than-usual cases being reported, the Japanese media has even coined a term for it, meiwaku gaikokujin, which translates as “nuisance foreigner," and the latest case involves a tourist who was seen doing pull-ups on a torii gate at a Japanese shrine.

The incident was captured on film less than a week ago by the woman doing the pull-ups, who shared the video on social media. According to local news reports, the woman is of Chilean nationality and was visiting Japan for sightseeing with her sister when the two of them stopped by a shrine in Sapporo, the capital city of Hokkaido. This is where one of the sisters pulled herself up on a torii gate and performed dance movements to a popular TikTok song with her chin raised above the lower bar. The other sister also shared a video of herself at the shrine, and she too caused an uproar with viewers as she performed a handstand at the main torii gate at the entrance to the shrine.

The two sisters have a shared Instagram account with over 130,000 followers, and this is where they posted the videos of their shrine visit. It didn’t take long for their antics to go viral, with media outlets in the sisters’ hometown quickly picking up on the story, with one headline reading: “Anger at a Chilean woman who did pull-ups on a Japanese torii."

▼ This news report shows the videos.

The anger came from both inside and outside of Japan, with foreign tourists in Japan even expressing their disapproval, calling it rude and pointing out that shrines aren’t places for this sort of behaviour. Locals were even more incensed, because although shrines have become popular tourist sites, they are holy grounds where everything is considered sacred, and the gods, who are ever-present, can see everything you do.

Handstands and pull-ups are a sign of disrespect to the gods that no Japanese local would ever think to perform on shrine grounds, so this type of behavior from an overseas visitor has been widely criticized as being impolite to the gods, the shrine itself, and the locals and their culture.

▼ Shrines are sacred places where worshippers should bow before entering the torii gate and then walk along one side of the path, as the middle section is the thoroughfare for the gods.

While there is a code of etiquette for proper behavior at a shrine, there’s also a legal code of conduct that is enforceable by law. According to article 188 of the Penal Code, Desecrating Places of Worship; Interference with Religious Service, the following penalties apply:

“A person who openly desecrates a shrine, temple, cemetery or any other place of worship shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than six months or a fine of not more than 100,000 yen. A person who interferes with a sermon, worship or a funeral service shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 1 year or a fine of not more than 100,000 yen.”

While police aren’t currently investigating the matter, the internet police have been out in full force, with the sister who performed the pull-ups being so harassed by angry messages online that she posted an apology on Instagram yesterday. In her apology video, which was transcribed in Japanese below the video, she says she didn’t mean to be rude and that she did the pull-ups without thinking. She also asked that people stop sending her messages and comments.

The offending video has since been deleted from the sisters’ Instagram account, but the damage remains as yet another instance of a “nuisance foreigner” has made news around Japan. Behavior like this paints all foreign visitors in a bad light, and with real legal ramifications for acts that cross the line, it’s important to resist the urge to get that “only in Japan” shot, especially when it goes against the rules of society.

Source: FNN via Yahoo! News Japan

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This is what happens with all these influencers you see. It’s only going to worsen I’m afraid.

There should update the immigration form

Have you ever committed a crime?

Yes No

Are you a YouTuber?

Yes No

I've got to start filming the locals behaving badly and start a tik tok channel!

Not good... problem is, with millions of tourists you're gonna get idiots here and there. But a real idiotic thing to do would be to print up thousands of large red and white labels with a human figure doing a pull up with a large X over it and sticking them everywhere.

There have always been disrespectful and ignorant idiots. The real damage was done when it became easy to be a disrespectful and ignorant idiot and become celebrated for so doing, by broadcasting one's disrespectful and ignorant idiocy to as many people as possible.

Blame the idiots, for sure, but also blame the social-media-enabled "I'm the centre of the universe and any publicity is good publicity" culture.

Is it really desecration though? Wouldn't that include some intent? And who says it is disrespectful to the gods? The gods? I mean, it looks ungainly and out of place compared to usual behaviour but nonconformity is about all we can claim. Nobody was hurt and no damage done over and above usual wear and tear. I'd be interested to know how this could be deemed bad without resorting to "how about cartwheels in a church?" or some such whataboutery.

NOT JUUST IN JAPAN,

Tourists in general including Japanese behave different while touring, must be the feeling of being in a foreign land or something else !!?

The reason we are reading this is because some of us have nothing else to talk about!???

Feigning ignorance when she clearly knew better. Over 65% of Chileans are Christians. Does she do exercises and gymnastics in churches? I think not. You have to be some kind of dumb to not make the connection between a temple and a church.

Regardless of the clear disrespect shown in a place of religion, this Chilean woman just sounds like a low-IQ moron.

Who knows how she was able to finance the trip to Japan. Hopefully she never returns.

@woodylee

The reason we are reading this is because some of us have nothing else to talk about!??

Actually no, because this website is called Japantoday.

""There should update the immigration form

Have you ever committed a crime?

Yes No

Are you a YouTuber?

Yes No""

Better yet One More Q?, What's the purpose of your visit? Tourism, Sorry entry rejected.

As a non-Japanese it is always frustrating to see such morons showing up and display their stupidity so proudly. For those who justify saying that locals too behave badly, yes but the vast majority do not and they are not the biggest fans of those locals either. Foreigners displaying such nincompoopery are usually tourists and put the non-Japanese living here under poor light.

Start implementing public lashings or humiliation (rotten tomato throwing) for behaviour like this. Or Tubers and their ilk have their channels deleted instantly on doing anything like this. Most likely the only way they'll learn.

She should be fined and denied any visitation rights for the rest of her life. Don't let the door hit your backside on the way out!

MoonrakerToday 05:10 pm JST

Is it really desecration though? Wouldn't that include some intent? And who says it is disrespectful to the gods?

Yes it's desecration, which may or may not be intentional.

The Torii in front of a shrine has been around since the 6th century. The earliest known examples are found in ancient texts and historical records from the Nara period (710–794 AD). So it's been disrespectful in Japanese culture for at least 1314 years. People bow before entering and after leaving as a Jinja is where the Kami resides.

If these two dimwits studied a bit about where they were going instead of spending all their brains on coming up with stupid videos for "likes", this problem would not have occured. And yes, it paints a bad image for all foreigners both visiting and living in Japan.

Goog grief, this is not in the slightest bit newsworthy.

It's one young, naive tourist having fun, not realizing how insulting she is being to the locals.

Stand up the first one here who did not do dumb and stupid things in the name of fun as a youth.

Get a grip. There are more important, worthy things to put in the news than this tabloid tripe.

She’s taken the post down now so hopefully she’s got the message. Doesn’t matter whether it’s a religious, historical, or any other site people should use common sense and respect other peoples property. Jungle Jims for climbing on, gates for walking through.

Goog grief, this is not in the slightest bit newsworthy.

It's one young, naive tourist having fun, not realizing how insulting she is being to the locals.

Stand up the first one here who did not do dumb and stupid things in the name of fun as a youth.

Get a grip. There are more important, worthy things to put in the news than this tabloid tripe

Exactly, another slow news day for the Japanese media. Look, what the girl did was wrong, but to make this a serious news scandal out of this is just over the top, I think what she did was harmless compared to idiots like Johnny Somali who just got paid from seriously agitating people and to the be the absolute worst of the worst. You pull the girl over, explain things to her get all of her info, get her to sign something as an insurance policy and just let her go and we be on our way. We all were stupid, all of us. Simple.

Start implementing public lashings or humiliation (rotten tomato throwing) for behaviour like this. Or Tubers and their ilk have their channels deleted instantly on doing anything like this. Most likely the only way they'll learn.

I honestly think that 90 per cent or more of them would, if given the choice of being flogged or losing their channel, take the flogging (as long as someone would record it and upload it to their channel...)

Attention for these people is like air for humans and water for fish.

Jungle Jims

I really hate predictive text.

Likewise I’ve seen an attitude shift from locals who are becoming old and aggressive. It is true the older Japanese get the more bitter they become.

that said. What fools are coming to Japan. I wonder if it was just a tall guy or gal who just was joking around and it was so low he acted like it. Wish he would have fallen on his butt.

bass4funkToday 06:02 pm JST

Goog grief, this is not in the slightest bit newsworthy.

It's one young, naive tourist having fun, not realizing how insulting she is being to the locals.

Stand up the first one here who did not do dumb and stupid things in the name of fun as a youth.

Get a grip. There are more important, worthy things to put in the news than this tabloid tripe

Exactly, another slow news day for the Japanese media. Look, what the girl did was wrong, but to make this a serious news scandal out of this is just over the top, I think what she did was harmless compared to idiots like Johnny Somali who just got paid from seriously agitating people and to the be the absolute worst of the worst. You pull the girl over, explain things to her get all of her info, get her to sign something as an insurance policy and just let her go and we be on our way. We all were stupid, all of us. Simple.

This.

"Excuse me, that's not cool. These are Torii Gates and sacred to Japanese people. Please just walk throiugh them peqacfully. Thanks.'

Done. Move on.

No need to generate more anti-foreigner tourist sentiment and xenophobia than there already is in Japan.

No need to generate more anti-foreigner tourist sentiment and xenophobia than there already is in Japan.

Hate to tell you this, but anti-foreigner and xenophobia trust has been and always will be with us in Japan, doesn’t matter what we do and if we speak fluent Japanese, read and write it, it won’t change the “us vs them” mentality. Some Japanese have a more diverse opinion and many are well-traveled so they will be more understanding and accepting. If a foreigner drinks too much and vomits in the sink of a restroom, the headlines would be “foreigner throws up in sink and doesn’t clean it out” you kidding me. We will always be tolerated but never accepted.

I 100% agree with bass4funk.

Churches in the West have literally been desecrated, burned to the ground, and Priests murdered.

Japan does not have a serious problem with foreigners and the only reason netto-uyoku are making a big deal out of it are because they're that sheltered

And, Ossan, the kami don't like displays of vigour or genkiness? I don't buy it. Many shrines, going back centuries, have backed vigorous and boisterous behaviour, from sumo to dancing. Some shrines are portable, designed to be showcased in an energetic and spirited way, to indicate health, fertility and life. Maybe the kami are bored of overly serious and feeble behaviour. How would we know? A history of ritual really tells us nothing about the tenets of the religion or the gods. But can I presume then that, as long as they bowed at the gate before and after, everything would be fixed and forgiven? But is religion to be reduced to mere agreed-on form, without any interrogation of the meaning or its contradictions?

I don't buy the "they're just kids" argument.

We met some friends who were visiting Japan a short while back. They had their two kids with them, who were what you would call the young end of the "social media generation".

We took them to various sites, including temples and so on, and the two kids were superbly behaved. At no point at all did it even feel like they were going to do something disrespectful or embarrassing.

If they can do it, then so can other visitors, most of whom are quite a bit older than them. Age is no excuse.

Churches in the West have literally been desecrated, burned to the ground, and Priests murdered.

Japan does not have a serious problem with foreigners and the only reason netto-uyoku are making a big deal out of it are because they're that sheltered

Well, yes. And the reason they are sheltered is because there are strict social rules in place that people follow, making this a fairly peaceful, safe and well-ordered country. If you wait until people are burning churches and killing priests before you raise an objection, you have waited too long.

Unrelated, perhaps, but there is a Japanese expression and guide for behaviour, "Tabi no haji wa Kakisute", which means something like 'nobody knows you when you travel so, no matter how embarrassing, it is just temporary.' Obviously, the corollary is, you may do anything when you travel if you don't know anyone (or don't care what they think).

Unrelated, perhaps, but there is a Japanese expression and guide for behaviour, "Tabi no haji wa Kakisute", which means something like 'nobody knows you when you travel so, no matter how embarrassing, it is just temporary.' Obviously, the corollary is, you may do anything when you travel if you don't know anyone (or don't care what they think).

Definitely an expression which predates social media and GPS!

Now it's more like 旅の恥は簡単に消せられません or something along those lines.

Or maybe 旅の恥は「いいね」の原因

This is old news. There is another female tourist doing yoga stretch at Sensoji temple gate in Asakusa, with people around her. Westerners feed on attention, and as someone said the reason they do it is because they see Japan and Japanese as Disneyland and clowns.

Maybe, instead of decrying apparently disrespectful behaviour, Japanese could join with these embarrassing others in celebration of something they probably have in common - a sentiment of tabi no haji wa kakisute. It would open up a path for greater mutual understanding rather than mutual distrust and be better for the world. It just involves finding things in common with the other, which is surely what travel is all about.

In case people want to know who she is.

https://www.instagram.com/mmgymsisters/

Marimar Perez

She apologized and mentioned she didn't think about her action. That is the same level as I don't remember or recall comments of people who are drunk or whatever.

It would have been interesting to have had social media and the Japanese press back in the 1980s as the Japanese tourists ran around.

I remember the problems with Japanese not just entering churches but doing so during Mass including walking right up to the alter to take pictures of the priest, this was such a problem places like Notre Dame in Paris and in Montreal had to post signs and higher guards.

The short memory of the Japanese.

There should update the immigration form

Have you ever committed a crime?

Yes No

Are you a YouTuber?

Yes No

I mean, if you are earning an income for creating content while visiting Japan, and without a permit, this is no longer visiting for pleasure but for business.

Two teenage social media obsessed planks of wood, give them both "brooms" and make them sweep in calm reflection, such "places of worship" are not to be mistaken for playground climbing frames gymnasiums. ;

Judging by her size I am surprised she could do even 1 pull up!!

How about boogie woogie dancing on a temple verandah and breaking it? It's what NHK did filming their morning tv drama. The temple in question was a national important cultural asset.

They did have permission, but it's still a rather silly use of a holy place, if desecration of a holy place is the accusation here. They possibly got permission because morning drama locations often go viral and the temple was looking to coin it in selling admissions and whatever fortunes and amulets it has on the go.

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230501/p2a/00m/0na/004000c

One of my local temples has a broken stone sign saying "no boistrous drinking" in ye olde Japanese. We've saw it on a history tour but the guide did not know if it was erected by a priest or a neighbour, or whether it was broken by a drinker or an "act of God".

Handstands and pull-ups are a sign of disrespect to the gods that no Japanese local would ever think to perform on shrine grounds

While pull-ups on the torii is just not done, I don’t get the outrage over a simple handstand. I think the author is really exaggerating this point.

While there are a few common practices at all, the rules on shrine etiquette can vary massively from shrine to shrine. In some there are strict formalities and you should behave accordingly at all times. In small local shrines though the grounds are often treated more like local parks where a variety of activities are permitted and doing a handstand probably wouldn’t bother anyone.

Also there isn’t anything in Shinto practice or mythology which says handstands per se are insulting to kami. Doing something that screws up the cleanliness or purity of the shrine might do that, but just standing on your head won’t. These shrines are often host to festivals where all sorts of raucous activities are part of the event (one in our neighborhood had a children’s dance festival with lots of kids doing them not long ago).

It's idiots like this who gives tourists a bad name.

When in Japan I tend to avoid going to shrines and temples out of respect (places of worship rather the places for toyrism) so for this moron to behave like this shows a massive amount of disrespect

It's not doing anything illegal or causing harm, not even damaging public property.

Why is this in the news?!

Thunderbird2Today 09:50 pm JST

It's idiots like this who gives tourists a bad name.

It's idiots like this who give a whole nation a bad name.

Go do this at a Catholic Church in Chile and see what happens

"A foreign tourist has apologised after incurring the wrath of Japanese social media users for posting a video online in which she performed pull-ups on a sacred “torii” gate at a Shinto shrine during a visit to Japan."

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3282720/tourists-torii-gate-pull-stunt-japan-sparks-outrage-and-debate-visitor-etiquette

Ah.

Major faux pas.

However,if she had asked permission,and given a sizeable donation to the shrine in advance,as the breakdancers Twins did at Kiyomizudera,all would be forgiven.

Sadly, the Japanese govt is just going to encourage more and more tourism because that’s all they’ve got. They wouldn’t implement effective economic policy if their lives depended on it.they couldn’t organize a bun fight in a bakery.

Imagine a Japanese going into a church and started juggling crucifixes on top of the alter for likes on social media. When questioned why that person did that, they said, why not? It’s not like I broke anything?

those same idiots would be frothing in their mouths jumping up and down screaming Japaneeeeeeeese!!!!! Those, those Jappppaaaaaanneeeeeeeeese!

Anytime you encounter a person or go to a place where your native language is not spoken you WILL get these kinds of acts. In some cultures what you respect in your culture or environment is sacred but should you go to another country they may be naive of such actions and beliefs. The only way one will know is if they are told after the act has been committed and the only thing the person who committed the act could say is they did not know and apologize. If you see a foreigner doing some that a naive see is a no no should not be taken as disrespectful they should immediately understand that the person is a foreigner and that they did not KNOW. If the native person witness the act they should kindly share the cultural knowledge to that person an explain why they should or shouldn't do such things. Ignorance is not saying anything, just as ignorance is thought of committing the act. The person doesn't not know what they have done wrong unless they are told!!! Don't blame the foreigner for not knowing, blame the citizen for not educating the visitor. Why cry foul? See something say something instead of going to the media to make things worse.

Idiot. That said, I've seen worse from Japanese kids, but that'll never get the attention this does.

There are idiots everywhere. Some of them travel. Some of them are locals. Would they do pull-ups in a mosque or church or at temple? Common sense, right?

Arrest the person. Fine them heavily and put them on a plane with a ticket they purchase and ban them from returning for 10 yrs until they mature a bit more.

No damage was done. That is the side effect of tourism. These events will happen.

@bass4funk

No need to generate more anti-foreigner tourist sentiment and xenophobia than there already is in Japan.

Hate to tell you this, but anti-foreigner and xenophobia trust has been and always will be with us in Japan, doesn’t matter what we do and if we speak fluent Japanese, read and write it, it won’t change the “us vs them” mentality. Some Japanese have a more diverse opinion and many are well-traveled so they will be more understanding and accepting. If a foreigner drinks too much and vomits in the sink of a restroom, the headlines would be “foreigner throws up in sink and doesn’t clean it out” you kidding me. We will always be tolerated but never accepted.

Try living in a better neighborhood, with more educated and civil people. Oh, and please don’t throw up in public and leave without cleaning.

All this talk about religious etc. I’ve seen Japanese people take photos during catholic masses and it didn’t make headlines on a website.

Yumster100

Oct. 17 10:48 pm JST

Imagine a Japanese going into a church and started juggling crucifixes on top of the alter for likes on social media.

Imagine Japanese tourists walking up on the front area right up to the alter and taking pictures of the priest during Mass?

Oh wait we don't have to, this was what they did during the bubble in the 80s in Notre Dame in Paris.

in 2026, 2027 the yen is predicted to trade around 120 or less and and tourists will go somewhere else, then those who are complaining will even complain more.

Imagine Japanese tourists walking up on the front area right up to the alter and taking pictures of the priest during Mass?

Oh wait we don't have to, this was what they did during the bubble in the 80s in Notre Dame in Paris.

and people should be shaking their heads over such stupidity. But my point is people think there’s nothing wrong with such stupid acts including many posters on here since no property damage, it’s a foreign place so they didn’t know shrines were sacred, etc.

you seem to have completely missed the point but I’m not surprised. Idiots should be called out regardless. Even if you wanted to bring an example of the Japanese that happened 30 years ago. We know the Chinese are notorious as tourists CURRENTLY as well

Stand up the first one here who did not do dumb and stupid things in the name of fun as a youth.

Abroad? Never. Home? To warrant an article written about my stupidity? Never. Next person to stand up, please, I would imagine there are plenty?

Let the woman spend a month in police detention doing pull-ups. They don’t even have to formally charge her. Just hold her for questioning the maximum slowed by Japanese law.

After about three weeks, give her the option of going straight home if and only if she makes some gesture of restitution to the shrine and a contrite apology video posted to her social media accounts. These done, 24 hours later, she can board a flight home.

How many foreigners committed vandalism in Singapore after that kid got caned there many years back? It only takes a high-profile case or two showing people suffering under the weight of the law before stupid people beat cheeks elsewhere.

Try living in a better neighborhood, with more educated and civil people.

So you are saying that most Japanese society is neither educated nor civil????

Oh, and please don’t throw up in public and leave without cleaning.

I'm half German, so it's not going to happen.

I must say that my view of bass4funk has changed somewhat based on the comments he has made to this article. I have already known that apart from anything related to Israel and the can’t do no wrong view of Trump, I have found myself usually agreeing with bass4funk and laughing at the automatic downvotes he receives even when he says something as innocuous as “It would be nice if everyone had a good day today.” It is as if some have a compulsive need to disagree with him no matter what he says. But I must apply standards equally and so it is with a heavy heart that I must break with bass over comments such as,

Look, what the girl did was wrong, but to make this a serious news scandal out of this is just over the top

Just as America is America and the rules are thus, so too Japan is Japan and the rules are thus. To excuse the poor behavior of foreigners in Japan while railing against the poor behavior of foreigners in America would be disingenuous in my part. If you want to be in Japan, respect the culture and don’t swing from the torii. If you want to be in America, respect the culture and don’t eat the cats, dogs and geese. You may remember that the later too was a serious news scandal with little substance to it.

bass4funk says, “anti-foreigner and xenophobia trust has been and always will be with us in Japan.” Yet a similar claim is made by those on the left who say America is a bigoted, racist country that only serves the interest of white heterosexual males and works against everyone else. But bass, you know as well as I do that the real issue is illegal immigration and not foreigners as such nor any particular race. And so it has been my experience in Japan for many years. To the extent that I do not go with the flow, members of society here view me negativity. To the extent I do go with the flow, members of society praise me to the point of embarrassment and claim that I am “Japanese.” Of course I myself am not so deluded as to really think so, but it does show the degree those around me in Japan try to make me feel included in the society.

When in Rome, do as the Romans is the wise old saying. When in America, respect America. When in Japan, respect Japan. I may be naive, but it really is that simple. It is precisely because I, as a foreigner living in another country and respecting its laws and customs even though I might not always agree or find them strange, can say with respect to my own country that I absolutely abhor those foreigners in my country who enter it illegally and intentionally act in such a manner that does not respect its laws and customs. If Japan does not suit someone, go somewhere else. If America does not suit someone, go somewhere else. It is the same the world over. As you are aware, the West allows foreigners to literally run amok within the country and ignore it in the interest of “cultural understanding” and not wanting to appear racist. Let such never be case in Japan! If some want to call that racism, let them. To such persons everything they disagree with is no doubt racist. The word has no real meaning out of their mouths.

another jt article says almost 27 million visitors entered japan this year through september.

but, let’s focus on one.

i don’t think it’s a trend yet.

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