Recent Spate of Video Games Set in Japan Cause Concern For Cultural Sites

Recent Spate of Video Games Set in Japan Cause Concern For Cultural Sites

With games like Ghost of Tsushima, and Assassin's Creed Shadows more recently, being set in various periods across historical Japan, the developers of the games upped the realism by including real-world locations in each of the games. While this has the added benefit of grounding the game and sharing some of Japan's cultural heritage with the gaming world, it has apparently also caused some controversy due to incidents involving vandalism at tho…

Japanese Shrine Bans Tourists, Laments "Destruction of Japanese Culture" - Unseen Japan

Bad tourist behavior has drawn a lot of media attention in Japan recently. In particular, some Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples have been enraged over tourists destroying property on their sacred grounds. Now, one shrine in Nagasaki Prefecture has banned any tourism – from inside or outside of Japan – in a bid to protect its grounds. The Watadzumi Shrine in Tsushima City, Tsushima Island (yes, the same Tsushima Island as the video game) made …

Thanks to the popularity of Ghost of Tsushima, one of the shrines on the island has been restored. But senseless vandalism has now led to the closure of all tourists. more

The iconic Watazumi Shrine, located on the Japanese island of Tsushima (famous for being the scene of the video game Ghost of Tsushima), has announced that it will ban access to all tourists, both national and international, from March 23. The measure was taken following an “unforgivable act of disrespect” committed by foreign visitors on March 22, just days after the Japanese government expressed concern about vandalism in sacred places. Althou…