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Zenkoji Temple Vandalized After Declining To Host Torch Relay Event

April 20th, 2008 by James

I thought I’d only have enough Olympic-related news for one post today, but then I saw this ugly news:

Graffiti was found on the main building of Zenkoji Buddhist Temple in the city of Nagano on Sunday morning, after the major temple declined Friday to serve as the starting point of the Japan leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay, police said.

They have launched the investigation as a property destruction case, focusing on whether the incident is related to the temple’s withdrawal from the event, they added.

Circles and lines were drawn with white spray paint at six points on wooden doors and columns of the main building, a national treasure, according to the investigation. They were sprayed at a height of about 1 meter from the floor.

[...]

Declining to host the torch relay, a Zenkoji official told reporters Friday, “Indiscriminate killings have taken place in Tibet. We were concerned about Buddhists in Tibet who rose up and the subsequent crackdown against them.”

It’s also being reported that Nagano City has turned down multiple requests from China to allow paramilitary police to guard the torch relay.



Related Posts:
 

Zenkoji Temple May Not Host Torch Relay Opening Ceremony In Nagano

Zenkoji to display gift from Dalai Lama

Zenkoji temple receives gift from Dalai Lama

Nagano Cancels Torch-Related Event

Flower Vandalism & Japanese Society


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12 Comments »

Comment by jjjtango
2008-04-20 17:00:16

kind of had a feeling something like this was going to happen

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Comment by LOD
2008-04-20 20:41:52

What’s surprising is the fact Zenkoji recently doubled the numbers of its guards… from two to four. Looks like they were in a perfect 平和ボケ.

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Comment by Level3
2008-04-21 06:19:22

So was it some angry Chinese people?
Or some right-wingers who WANT us to think angry Chinese people are defacing holy Japanese places?
Or some Chinese people who WANT us to think right-wingers are trying to frame Chinese people for defacing holy Japanese places?
etc.

Or just stupid punk kids.

BTW: Any bets that Nagano cops who hear anyone speaking Chinese will stop them and deamnd to check their gaijin cards now?

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Comment by Buster
2008-04-21 11:41:19

You forgot to blame it on the Zainichi Koreans man…

;)

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Comment by ...
2008-04-21 23:10:49

Very unlikely in this case:

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/03/113_20967.html

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Comment by the overthinker
2008-04-21 12:52:14

“BTW: Any bets that Nagano cops who hear anyone speaking Chinese will stop them and deamnd to check their gaijin cards now?”

Any bets that they will stop any and all random foreigners, especially the non Asian ones, on the grounds that this was “possibly done by a foreigner”?

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Comment by morningstar
2008-04-21 10:18:31

First I have to say I am very sorry that the Zenkoji Temple was targeted. A very coward thing to do. The temple in Japan are sacred for the Japanese. Who ever targeted the temple made a very poor and sad and mean choice. Buddha WILL DEAL WITH PERSON OR PERSONS RESPONSIBLE.

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Comment by ninjaboy
2008-04-23 22:24:15

It was a very common Manko mark. A pussy mark that Japanese would know.
So people think some kids did it.

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Comment by ponta
2008-04-24 14:41:08

To view it as Manko mark, you need hyper-imagination.

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