{"id":50515,"date":"2025-07-29T19:03:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T10:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=50515"},"modified":"2025-07-29T19:03:02","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T10:03:02","slug":"man-arrested-after-threatening-to-burn-down-800-year-old-japanese-shrine-over-an-ai-anime-girl-profile-picture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/man-arrested-after-threatening-to-burn-down-800-year-old-japanese-shrine-over-an-ai-anime-girl-profile-picture\/","title":{"rendered":"Man arrested after threatening to burn down 800-year-old Japanese shrine over an AI anime girl profile picture\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Japanese shrine using an AI-generated image of an anime girl on X has somehow escalated into multiple death threats and an arrest. As reported by The Sankei Shimbun<\/a>, local police recently arrested a 38-year-old unemployed man on suspicion of intimidation and obstruction of business after he sent dozens of threatening emails to Kurumazaki Shrine, a Shinto shrine located in Kyoto.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Built circa 1189, Kurumazaki Shrine is dedicated to the performing arts, and it\u2019s known for being visited by famous celebrities in the entertainment industry. In March this year, the shrine inadvertently caused an outrage on social media after it uploaded an AI-generated image as its profile picture on X. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The picture featured an anime-style illustration of a girl clad in shrine maiden attire, posing below a cherry blossom tree. People were disappointed to see a shrine that\u2019s supposed to celebrate the arts supporting AI, which led to an influx of criticism so intense the shrine deleted its official X account the very same day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Image via The Sankei Shimbun<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

However, as the Sankei reports, this did not deter people from voicing their woes with the poor image choice, as many turned to sending emails instead. Moreover, this escalated beyond just criticism, with the shrine \u201creceiving dozens of threatening emails.\u201d\u00a0The aforementioned 38-year-old man reportedly wrote to the shrine\u2019s officials saying, \u201cYour damn shrine will burn to the ground in an unexplained fire one of these days.\u201d He also attached an image of flames for good measure. Kyoto Shimbun<\/a> further reports that the man threatened to beat the shrine\u2019s officials to death in another message.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, Kurumazaki Shrine had to tighten security on its grounds and ramp up safety patrols. Following his arrest in July, the unemployed man admitted to sending the threats. When asked about a motive, he said he was \u201cpissed off\u201d by the shrine\u2019s affirmative attitude towards AI art. Police has established that the culprit has no connection to the shrine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the AI \u201cartist\u201d who prompted Kurumazaki Shrine\u2019s controversial profile picture into existence was also targeted. After news broke of the arrest, the AI user reportedly received a message that said, \u201cCome to my house with 3 million yen in cash and apologize or I\u2019ll kill you.\u201d Frightened for his safety, he promptly contacted police.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The man also threatened to beat shrine officials to death, citing that he was “pissed off” by their affirmative stance towards AI art.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":50517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,65],"tags":[67,17],"class_list":["post-50515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-nongaming-news","tag-ai","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nMan arrested after threatening to burn down 800-year-old Japanese shrine over an AI anime girl profile picture\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The man also threatened to beat shrine officials to death, citing that he was "pissed off" by their affirmative stance towards AI art.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/man-arrested-after-threatening-to-burn-down-800-year-old-japanese-shrine-over-an-ai-anime-girl-profile-picture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Man arrested after threatening to burn down 800-year-old Japanese shrine over an AI anime girl profile picture\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The man also threatened to beat shrine officials to death, citing that he was "pissed off" by their affirmative stance towards AI art.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/man-arrested-after-threatening-to-burn-down-800-year-old-japanese-shrine-over-an-ai-anime-girl-profile-picture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-29T10:03:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-29T10:03:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250729-50515header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"879\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"523\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amber V\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Amber V\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Man arrested after threatening to burn down 800-year-old Japanese shrine over an AI anime girl profile picture\u00a0 - 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