Japanese tourists pull moonie on Great Wall of China and get deported

A Japanese couple's visit to the Great Wall of China took an unexpected and controversial turn after being deported for a cheeky act.

What began as a lighthearted prank with the husband baring his backside for a photo, captured by his wife, quickly escalated into a scandal.

The act, deemed an affront to public decency under Chinese law, sparked outrage and led to their swift deportation, highlighting a clash of cultural norms.

Following the incident, security staff at the historic landmark swiftly apprehended the couple. Their stunt led to significant repercussions, and they were reportedly held in a Chinese detention facility for two weeks before being deported.

A statement from the Japanese Foreign Ministry on 14 March said: "The Japanese Embassy in China confirmed on January 3 that two Japanese nationals were detained by local authorities at the Great Wall."

They added that the tourists "were subsequently released and returned to Japan in January".

Getty Images

When interviewed by embassy officials, the couple allegedly explained that they had intended the act as a joke. However, their explanation did little to mitigate the seriousness of the cultural offense or legal violation they had committed in China.

By the Friday morning, a hashtag roughly translating to "Japanese man and woman detained for indecent behaviour at the Great Wall" reportedly garnered more than 60 million views on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.

You may also like...

• Archaeologists are too scared to open up the tomb of China’s first emperor
• Ancient Chinese city found perfectly preserved at the bottom of a lake

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.