A Japanese shrine in Tsushima City, Nagasaki, has announced it will no longer welcome non-worshipping visitors due to repeated incidents of bad behaviour by tourists, culminating in what its chief priests called “a grave and unforgivable act of disrespect” on 22 March 2025.
The Watatsumi Shrine, which has a famous row of five “floating” torii gates, is popular for its picturesque views and associations with the Ghost of Tsushima video game. But for years the place of Shinto worship has complained of anti-social behaviour by visitors, including people cycling through its sacred grounds, littering, smoking, spitting, stealing gift shop goods, and verbally abusing staff.
Watatsumi nearly closed to “foreigners” in January 2020 but refrained from applying the measure. Since then, staff have continued to deal with “inbound tourists destroying things and people that Japanese people treasure”. In 2024, a Korean who threw a cigarette butt spat and became abusive when challenged nearly resulted in all Koreans being banned from the site, which online commenters on TripAdvisor condemned as “racism”.
Now though, the shrine has said it is closed to anyone who is not there to worship, including Japanese visitors and “domestic and foreign bus tours for sightseeing purposes.”
“As of today, Sunday, March 23, entry to the shrine grounds is forbidden to anyone who is not a parishioner or worshipper. In addition, all photography, video filming and live-streaming of the shrine’s ocean torii gates, buildings, and structures is prohibited,” an official announcement on Instagram said.
Authorities at the shrine expressed regret at the measure, pointing out they had “repeatedly discussed such matters with Tsushima city hall, the tourism agency, and the Nagasaki Prefectural Police, but have not been able to arrive at a solution. In addition to the mental anguish caused to our staff from the sacred grounds being violated, they have suffered repeated acts of verbal abuse and physical violence, culminating in an administrative crisis for the shrine.”
It may however be difficult to enforce the rule, since the shrine does not have any entrance gates or barriers. What’s more, as no formal “mass” takes place, it is not easy to distinguish between the behaviour of the majority of tourists and that of Shinto believers, for whom contributing to the collection box, ringing a bell, and praying or making a wish signify acts of worship.
The shrine later clarified that “A worshipper is someone who respects the gods and visits the shrine with a sense of reverence.” Photography would still be permitted, the priests’ update said, as long as it was undertaken with the appropriate respect.
