A Buddhist priest whose grumpy responses to negative hotel reviews went viral this week has taken a swipe at tourists who fail to do their homework before visiting Japanese temples.

The Sekishoin Shukubo guesthouse offers tourists the chance to stay in an ancient Buddhist temple in Mount Kōya, a World Heritage-listed site south of Osaka. But some customers got more than they bargained for when they left critical comments on booking.com.

After a visitor complained about the “basic and vegetarian” meals and the lack of explanation of the temple’s traditions, the official “property response” pointed out it was a place of training and westerners would not get special treatment, adding: “If you are that interested in a monks life then you should shave your head and be one.”

In another exchange, a customer said there was no heating outside the bedroom and the “strange” meals were “quite unlike any food I’ve ever tasted”, prompting the reply: “Yeah, it’s Japanese monastic cuisine you uneducated ****.”

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