Zenkoji temple officials cover graffiti sprayed on the pillars of the main building of Zenkoji temple

Just two days after announcing that it would not serve as the Japanese starting point of the Beijing Olympic torch relay, graffiti were found on the main building of an ancient Buddhist temple designated a national treasure.

 

Zenkoji temple in Nagano last Friday pulled out of hosting a ceremony for the protest-marred Olympic torch relay because of China’s crackdown in Tibet and was desecrated Sunday, an act that has sparked a national furor.

 

Six white ellipses up to 80 centimeters in diameter were found on a door and five pillars standing  along the corridors running on the northern and western sides of the main building, and a 1.3-meter-long, 5-centimeter-wide line was found on another door on the building’s north side, according to the temple. All the graffiti apparently were done with indelible spray paint.

Local police are investigating the case as a violation of Japan’s Cultural Properties Protection Law. Zenkoji temple is believed to have been built in 642, and the main building was rebuilt after being destroyed by a fire in 1707. The main building was designated as national treasure in 1953.

 

The temple, which rang bells for the opening ceremonies for the 1998 Nagano Games as well as for the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics, had “fondly accepted” an invitation last year to host the ceremony this Saturday, a temple official said. “But the situation has changed,” said Shinsho Wakaomi. “Monks here are very concerned” about what happened in Tibet.
Zenkoji, which draws six million visitors every year, said it had received many phone calls urging it not to host the ceremony.

Local government official Kunihiko Shinohara said he was “shocked” by the temple’s move.
But he added: “We respect the decision by Zenkoji and will change the starting venue.”
Japan, which earlier opposed China sending guards to protect the Olympic flame when it arrives, has already cancelled a public celebration linked to the relay due to security concerns. Meanwhile, the three corporate sponsors of the Japanese leg — the local arms of Coca-Cola, Lenovo and Samsung — said last week they would not send advertising vehicles to accompany the relay although they denied any link to Tibet.

 

The torch committee will decide the new course for the torch relay this week. The committee is expected to designate the workers’ welfare center, about 500 meters west of the street leading to Zenkoji, as the new starting point.
— IANS