Fukuoka police arrested a Chinese couple Thursday for allegedly setting up a campsite without permission on land designated as a special historic site at the ruins of Ono Castle in the city of Dazaifu, Fukuoka Prefecture.
The suspects are Xiaoqing Liu, a 41-year-old company executive, and her husband, Yong Li, a 42-year-old company employee, both residents of the town of Umi, Fukuoka Prefecture. It has not been disclosed whether the couple admitted to the charges.
According to police, between October 2022 and late September 2023, the couple developed about 2,300 square meters of land owned by 21 individuals, including a 95-year-old woman from Fukuoka City, without their consent and opened a campsite.
Authorities said Liu and Li owned part of the land but failed to secure permission from the other owners. Developing a designated special historic site requires approval under the Cultural Properties Protection Act and City Planning Act, but neither Dazaifu’s city government nor the prefectural government received any application from the couple.
A city official first spotted prefab huts erected on the site around October 2022 and demanded their removal, but Liu and Li refused to comply, according to police. The campsite was confirmed to be operational by September 2023.
Ono Castle, a mountain fortress built in the 7th century, and its surrounding area were designated as a national special historic site in 1953.
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