In case you missed it, Studio Ghibli's very own theme park in Japan has an epidemic of people posting photos of themselves online touching or posing with statues of female characters in lewd ways. Things were so bad even the loval governor had to get involved, but now some of the perpetrators have decided to reveal themselves.

Three men from outside Aichi prefecture who were pictured touching Therru fromTales of Earthsea and Marnie from When Marnie Was There, in ways that would be considered sex crimes if they were real, took governer Hideki Omura's condemnation to heart and reached out to him so they could apologize. Omura arranged a meeting with the three and members of Aichi prefecture's Ghibli Park Promotional Division in Nagoya. He was concerned that the pictures were bad PR not just for Ghibli but for Aichi, especially when it comes to attracting foreign tourists. But they seemed to hash things out in the meeting; and in a following press conference Omura read some statements from the men in question:

“I feel deep regret for having caused trouble and disgusting so many people [with my actions]. I will refrain from doing such foolish things in the future. I am truly sorry”

“I deeply regret making people uncomfortable with the photos I took in poor taste. I will not do such things in the future. I am truly sorry”

“I wish to deeply apologize for my disrespectful actions to Ghibli Park and the Aichi prefectural government, and for making other [Twitter] users uncomfortable. I am truly sorry for my actions in this incident.”

Fortunately, they won't be under any criminal charges, and Omura considers the matter finished. All's well that ends well, I suppose. Let's hope no one else goes to Ghibli Park with similarly seedy intentions from now on.

What do you guys think? Should Ghibli Park be more strict about people getting handsy with the displays? Sound off below!