Drunk Tourist Topples Kyoto Temple's Samurai-Era Relic

At dawn, a drunken American tourist infiltrated Kyoto's Shoden Eigen-in Temple, a 13th-century Zen sanctuary linked to samurai lore, and shattered a fragile wooden railing. This incident underscores the challenges of overtourism in Japan, where historic sites suffer from visitor misconduct.
The tourist, entering through a kitchen door, damaged the temple's main hall railing, designated a Kyoto Prefectural Cultural Heritage Site. Later, he returned sober, expressing remorse through a translation app, stating, 'This was the biggest mistake of my life. I'm truly sorry.'
Shoden Eigen-in, founded in 1264, is tied to Oda Urakusai, a warlord-turned-tea-master and brother of Oda Nobunaga, reflecting Japan's deep samurai heritage.