4 Americans nabbed for spraying graffiti in Tokyo's Shibuya

Four American citizens were arrested after spraying graffiti on a building shutter in Tokyo's Shibuya district, police said.

Brian John Gaughan, 42, a self-proclaimed restaurant proprietor, and other individuals aged in their 20s through 40s were arrested on suspicion of damaging property and causing damage to a building, according to the Metropolitan Police Department's Shibuya Police Station.

Gaughan was quoted as telling police that he had heard graffiti was tolerated in Shibuya -- one of the most popular urban areas among younger generations.

The four Americans are accused of spraying black paint on a shutter on the first floor of a building in Shibuya's Udagawacho district at around 11:20 p.m. on Sept. 9. Two of them have admitted to the allegations against them, while another has denied the accusation. The remaining person has refrained from responding to the charges against him. Police quoted one of the four as saying they are a group of mural artists in the United States.

According to Shibuya Police Station, the number of graffiti works found in the station's jurisdiction stood at 107 in 2012, 109 in 2013, 100 in 2014, and 71 in 2015. The figure for this year had already reached 85 by Sept. 15 -- nearly doubling the figure recorded at the same period last year.

In late August, graffiti was sprayed all over the 18-meter-long train carriage parked near the Hachiko dog statue in front of Shibuya Station, which is used as a tourist information booth. The Shibuya City Tourism Association is looking into countermeasures ahead of Halloween festivities next month, such as putting a cover over the carriage.