Tour guide from Kyoto feels ‘unsafe’ after incident at Yasaka Shrine

A British national who worked as a walking tour guide in Kyoto has claimed he has had to give up his business because he and his wife are now too afraid to go outside following an incident at Yasaka Shrine last month when a member of his tour group allegedly rang a bell too hard and slammed it against a fence. Speaking to Richard Lloyd Parry of The timesJoshua Sherlock, 32, said: “I keep looking through the curtains. I haven’t slept for two weeks. I’m scared of being attacked by a lynch mob of far-right people. I love Kyoto, it’s my home, but now I don’t feel safe.” He reportedly received emails calling him a “white pig” and “foreign shit” and told to “go home”.

The incident at Yasaka Shrine

Sherlock has come under fire for an altercation at Yasaka Shrine just over two weeks ago. A woman with the username fujino_ojo posted a video of the altercation on X. She called Sherlock a “racist” who “lives in Japan and insults Japanese people.” She added, “The group he was working for as a tour guide behaved rudely at a shrine, so a local Japanese man warned them. He then made offensive remarks to a local woman.” In the video, Sherlock tells the Japanese woman to leave her alone before asking her if she speaks English. She then accuses him of discrimination as the two continue to exchange heated words in Japanese. One member of the group says, “It’s not his fault. I misunderstood and made it too loud,” referring to the ringing of the bell. The video has been viewed more than 33 million times.

‘No regret’

According to the article in The timesFujino expressed “no regrets about the consequences her posts have had on Sherlock and his family.” He claims his wife is too scared to work and they decided to take their 6-year-old daughter out of school. However, Fujino has questioned whether it is a fair article. On XShe claims that several key points were missing, including claims that the travel company was not registered and problems the company had in processing refunds. She also states that Sherlock pretended not to understand Japanese rather than trying to avoid trouble with a local.

A few days after the incident, the Yasaka Shrine made this Notice: “Out of concern for the safety of all visitors, we will be removing the bell cords in the main hall between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. During this time, you can visit the church and hold services as usual. However, please note that you will not be able to ring the bells.”

related posts