Austrian man arrested for having sex in Japanese shrine

By Yumi Asada and Issy Ronald, CNN

Tokyo (CNN) — A 61-year-old Austrian man was arrested last month for having sex in a shrine in Japan with a Japanese woman in her 40s, local police told CNN on Wednesday.

The couple were caught having sex on August 22 while in the grounds of a shrine in Kesennuma –- a small coastal town about 500 kilometers (310 miles) north of Tokyo –- and faced charges of disrespecting a place of worship.

Police told CNN that they arrested the man, fearing he could be a flight risk, but did not arrest the woman after concluding there was no risk of her fleeing.

The man has since been released from custody, but the police said they could not disclose details of his punishment and did not clarify whether he was a tourist or a resident. These cases don’t always end in forced repatriation, the police added, and can result in a fine.

Although such a case is rare, there have been other instances of people being arrested for disrespecting Japanese shrines.

Last year, a 17-year-old Canadian was brought in for questioning for allegedly scratching the name “Julian” with his nail into a wooden pillar at a UNESCO-listed temple in the historic city of Nara, local police told CNN at the time.

“The boy admitted his act and says it was done not with the intent of harming Japanese culture,” a police official said.  “He is now with his parents, who were with him when the incident occurred.”

Meanwhile in 2010, famed photographer Kishin Shinoyama was charged with public indecency and disrespect for a religious site when he allegedly took nude photos at a public cemetery.

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Yumi Asada reported from Tokyo, Issy Ronald wrote in London. CNN’s Karla Cripps and Eru Ishikawa contributed reporting.