A male American tourist, reportedly intoxicated, damaged the main hall of Shoden Eigen-in temple in Kyoto’s Higashiyama Ward around 6:20 AM on June 24.
The temple functions as a sub-temple of Kennin-ji.
It maintains historical links to Oda Urakusai, the younger brother of samurai Oda Nobunaga.
Japan has seen a strong rise in tourism in recent years.
This increase has sparked renewed concern about overtourism and its impact on local communities and heritage sites.
Most visitors behave respectfully.
But some episodes of bad behaviour have drawn attention.
One recent incident involved a tourist repeatedly kicking and punching vending machines at Okinawa’s Naha International Airport.
Shoden Eigen-in features tranquil gardens and traditional architecture.
The temple’s main hall is a designated prefectural cultural property.
According to Rev. Keinin Magami, 48, the chief priest, the man entered via a south-side side entrance.
After walking through the garden, he tried to climb a wooden handrail surrounding the main hall.
His actions damaged the handrail and also broke a wooden door.
The main hall, including that handrail, was designated a prefectural cultural property in 2015.
Rev. Magami became aware of the intrusion when the man began banging on the door of adjacent residential quarters.
He then called the police.
Officers from the Higashiyama police station responded.
They found no damage at the residential quarters.
Later that same morning, the tourist returned to the temple and apologised to Rev. Magami using a translation app.
“This is the biggest mistake of my life. I am truly sorry.”
When asked his motivation, he said he “wanted to see the temple.”
The temple has not filed a formal police report about the incident.
Rev. Magami said this was the first time a tourist had trespassed in this manner.
“It has come to a point where we have to be careful even in our daily lives. The negative effects of overtourism are appearing, and we hope countermeasures will be taken.”