A Chinese language man who has been accused of spray portray the phrase “rest room” and urinating on a pillar at a controversial Japanese shrine has been arrested, say native media studies.
The person was arrested by police in Tokyo on Tuesday on suspicion of damaging property and desecrating a spot of worship.
Footage of the incident, which came about in Could, had earlier gone viral – sparking outrage amongst many in Japan.
The shrine has through the years been a supply of friction between Japan and its neighbours, China and South Korea.
In Could this 12 months, the alleged perpetrator, who recognized himself as Iron Head, posted a video on Chinese language social media.
In it, he signifies that he’s fed up with Japan’s determination to launch handled waste water, presumably a reference to water launched from the Fukushima nuclear plant – a call that outraged many in China.
The footage additionally confirmed him spray portray the phrase rest room in pink on a stone pillar on the shrine in Tokyo. He additionally appeared to urinate on the identical pillar.
Many in Japan had been outraged by his actions, with one Tokyo businessman saying on social media that he was providing a reward of 10 million yen ($63,000; £49,000) to whoever caught him.
On Tuesday, Tokyo police mentioned they’d arrested the Chinese language nationwide – who lives in Japan. Arrest warrants have additionally been issued for 2 different Chinese language nationals.
The shrine, which honours Japan’s struggle useless but in addition convicted World Battle Two criminals, is seen by a few of its neighbours as an emblem of the nation’s wartime aggression.
It’s common for Japanese officers to go to the shrine throughout sure festivals and throughout the anniversary of Japan’s give up in World Battle Two.
In 2014, when then prime minister Shinzo Abe visited the shrine, China mentioned the go to mirrored “the faulty angle in direction of historical past adopted by Japan’s incumbent cupboard”.
South Korea equally denounced the go to, saying it “romanticised Japanese colonialism and its struggle of aggression”.
