Summary

Steve Lee Hayes, a 65-year-old American tourist, was arrested in Tokyo for allegedly carving family members’ names into a wooden Torii gate at the Meiji Shrine.

Surveillance footage led police to his hotel, where he was detained.

Hayes admitted to the act, which could result in up to three years in prison or a fine of 300,000 yen ($1,900).

The Meiji Shrine, a significant Shinto site, was built in 1920 to honor Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. The incident occurs amid a surge in international tourism to Japan this year.

  • @A_Filthy_Weeaboo
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    531 minutes ago

    Like how dumb do you have to be?

    … Checks timeline. Oh thats the norm…

    • Flying Squid
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      388 hours ago

      The fine sure seems low for defacing an important religious shrine.

      • @Dagnet
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        5 hours ago

        Not sure that shrine in particular but I do think torii gates in some shrines are replaced somewhat often. At Inari they had business names behind them which I assume are the ‘sponsors’ of that torii, probably they pay to have the gate fixed and I imagine that brings luck to that business. In short, he might have been lucky to deface the least critical part of the shrine.

        • @Zahille7
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          34 hours ago

          Kinda like Americans donating to have a bench named after them in a park.

        • Flying Squid
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          55 hours ago

          That’s good at least. I’d hate to think this was a century old (or whatever) torii he defaced.

          • @Dagnet
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            44 hours ago

            oh, Im just guessing here though (from what I saw when visiting), hopefully that is the case

  • @villainy
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    508 hours ago

    I could have guessed he was over 60 because he wasn’t live streaming the whole thing. Just an old school asshole, not an influencer.

    • Flying Squid
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      158 hours ago

      All that really proves is that people don’t need YouTube to do things for attention.

  • Flying Squid
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    108 hours ago

    America: making Japan worse since 1853 (with a brief pause in the mid-20th century while they did it to themselves).

      • Flying Squid
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        7 hours ago

        I’ll let you know when my window into parallel universes has been completed, but I promised someone else to look into whether or not the Aztecs would have been worse for Mexico if the Spanish hadn’t invaded first.

        • @wildcardology
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          259 minutes ago

          Damn, I was asking myself this very question about the Aztecs about a week ago. Also how would the indigenous people in america progress if the colonizers didn’t discover America. I believe they are nomads?

          • Flying Squid
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            116 minutes ago

            One of the reasons the Spanish were able to contact the Aztecs is that their neighbors were really tired of being conquered and forced to pay tribute. So I’m guessing the Aztec empire in Mesoamerica would have gotten and the already massive Inca empire would have become far more massive. Not sure about any of the cultures other than those.