Taiwanese actress and television host Tsai Yi-chen has been fined 500,000 yen, about S$4,060, over an incident in which she stained a national treasure at Japan’s Yakushiji Temple.
The 39-year-old was summarily indicted on Wednesday, 2 September, and fined by the Nara Summary Court, according to reports citing Japanese broadcaster NHK and the Nara District Public Prosecutors Office. She paid the fine and was subsequently released.
Tsai then issued her first public apology over the incident on 3 September, saying she had come to understand that she should have taken greater care to learn about other countries’ cultures, histories and laws.
She Was Arrested After Returning to Japan
The case dates back to 6 April, when Tsai visited Yakushiji Temple in Nara.
She was accused of pouring a liquid containing glycerin onto the Buddha’s Footprint Stone, or Bussokuseki, inside the temple. The stone bears an engraved representation of the Buddha’s footprint and is designated as a Japanese national treasure.
Yakushiji itself says the stone was commissioned in 753 and is the oldest surviving example of an ancient Buddha footprint stone in Japan. The temple is also part of the UNESCO-listed Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara.
Japanese police identified Tsai using security camera footage.
She had already left Japan after the April visit, but when she returned to the country on 22 August, police arrested her at Kansai International Airport in Osaka on suspicion of violating Japan’s cultural property protection law.
Japanese media reported that Tsai told investigators she would pour oil on things that moved her emotionally as part of her prayers.
Tsai Says She Has No Excuse for Her Actions
In a statement posted in Chinese and Japanese on 3 September, Tsai said the Japanese investigation had concluded and that she had been released the previous evening.
She apologised to Yakushiji Temple and people in Japan, saying her ignorance and actions had caused distress.
Tsai said that during the investigation, she reflected on the need to understand the culture, history and laws of places she visits, particularly when dealing with culturally and historically important objects.
She also apologised to people in Taiwan for setting a poor example and said she would not repeat the mistake.
The latest development brings a legal conclusion to the case after Tsai’s manager had previously said in August that she could not be contacted while the Japanese authorities were investigating.
A summary indictment in Japan is a simplified procedure that allows certain criminal cases to be handled through written proceedings rather than a full trial.
