Nagano - Copper roofing has been stripped from Shinano-no-miya Shrine in Oshika Village, Nagano Prefecture, leaving the wooden structure exposed in the latest of a series of similar thefts reported at shrines across the prefecture.
The damage was discovered on September 12, with sections of the shrine roof peeled back and the timber underneath left exposed.
Minoru Maruyama, a deputy representative of the local group responsible for managing the shrine, said the theft had come as a severe shock. "It is something very important to us, so it is truly infuriating and frustrating," he said.
Residents who manage the shrine said there had been no sign of anything unusual when they visited on September 3, leading them to believe the copper plates were stolen sometime between September 3 and September 12.
The shrine stands in a secluded mountainous area surrounded by natural scenery, making it difficult for residents to keep watch over the site.
"There is really no way to be constantly on guard," Maruyama said. "It is in the mountains where hardly anyone is around, so the people who did this probably found it easy."
Similar thefts were reported in August at shrines in Ogawa Village and Omachi, also in Nagano Prefecture, where copper roofing was stripped away.
Residents at Shinano-no-miya Shrine had already begun considering additional security measures following those incidents.
"We had just been talking about installing security cameras when this happened," Maruyama said. "The main shrine building has a special construction, so I am worried the repair costs will be extremely high."
Copper has become an increasingly tempting target for thieves as prices have climbed sharply in recent years. Demand has been rising because the metal is widely used in power grids, electric vehicles, renewable energy systems and data centers, while new mining supply has been slow to keep up.
That has pushed up the value of scrap copper as well. Old roofing, wiring and other fittings can be stripped out, cut up and sold relatively easily into the recycling market, making copper especially attractive compared with goods that are harder to resell.
Shrines and other buildings in remote areas can be particularly vulnerable because there are fewer people around to notice suspicious activity. In cases such as Shinano-no-miya Shrine, the value of the stolen metal may be only part of the loss, as removing copper roofing can expose the underlying timber and leave the building facing far more expensive repair work.
Source: FNN
