Man claiming to be Chinese arrested for vandalising area at Japan’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine

The man threw an ink-like liquid on a curtain at one of the buildings of Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, the Metropolitan Police Department said

The shrine, which honours Japanese war criminals, is seen by Japan’s neighbours as a symbol of the country’s former militarism

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Police officers survey the vandalism at the Yasukuni Shrine. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 12:00am, 20 Aug 2019Updated: 12:17am, 20 Aug 2019

Police in Japan on Monday arrested a man claiming to be Chinese for vandalising a curtain at one of the buildings of Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine for war dead.

The man threw a black ink-like liquid on the cloth, the Metropolitan Police Department said.

Details such as the motives, address and occupation of the man arrested for property damage were unclear, a police official said.

No one was immediately available for comment at the Chinese embassy in Tokyo.

Police officers survey the vandalism in front of a worship hall at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. Photo: Kyodo

A picture on public broadcaster NHK’s website showed part of a rectangular white cloth hung across the front of one of the shrine’s main buildings besmirched with numerous black spots.

The Shinto shrine is seen by critics, especially in China and South Korea, where painful memories of Japan’s actions before and during the war persist, as a symbol of Tokyo’s past militarism.