Tsushima Island Prototype Shrine prohibits sightseeing: only because of blasphemy by foreign tourists

　　Since the release of "Tsushima Souls", the fictional location in the game based on "Watatumi Shrine" has attracted a lot of attention from players. In 2020, a typhoon caused the collapse of the Torii in the real world, and the subsequent reconstruction crowdfunding campaign was launched with generous donations from many "Soul of Tsushima" players.

According to news media, thanks to the popularity of "The Soul of Tsushima", many tourists visited the Hetatumi Shrine. However, the surge in tourists has also triggered some uncivilized behavior, and at around 4 pm on March 22, a foreign tourist committed extremely serious and unforgivable disrespectful behavior within the Hotatumi Shrine.

　　The Shrine said that despite seeking help from the municipal government, tourism association and Nagasaki Prefecture police, the problem has not been resolved. All staff of the shrine felt that the divine realm was destroyed. In addition to suffering mental pain, they also faced repeated abuse and violent behaviors from the staff, which led to the crisis in the operation of the shrine.

　　The official shrine emphasized in its statement: "Foreign tourists destroy the places, objects and cultures that the Japanese cherish are tantamount to the collapse of Japanese culture." To this end, the shrine decided to take action to protect the sacredness of the shrine and people's hearts, and announced that it would restrict non-believers from entering the shrine area, and completely prohibit visits for the purpose of tourism, including domestic and foreign bus tours and other forms of tourism.

Previously, the Hedatumi Shrine had been prohibited from entering at night on the 19th because "money thieves (people who specialize in stealing money from the temple merit box) frequently appeared." On the 21st, the shrine also issued a Korean reminder, banning smoking and mentioning the issue of "rape" among Koreans. To cope with these situations, the shrine has set up a temporary large parking lot at the entrance of the main entrance parking lot and advises visitors to temporarily avoid small parking lots.