This year has seen a flurry of activities regarding cultural heritage, including registration of the Sado Island gold mine in Niigata Prefecture as a World Cultural Heritage site.

That listing increased to 21 the number of cultural landmarks in Japan recognized as having significant importance for humanity.

In another World Heritage move, Japan selected a group of archaeological sites from the ancient capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara in Nara Prefecture as the next cultural heritage candidate to be recommended to UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).

Hikone Castle in Shiga Prefecture, one of Japan’s most famous and historically significant castles, also took a key step toward registration as a World Cultural Heritage site by undergoing a preliminary evaluation by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), an advisory body to UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee.

Considering the long list of other candidates for heritage designation around the country, we should reconsider the significance of increasing the number of World Heritage sites in Japan.

The purpose of the World Heritage Convention is to protect sites with “outstanding universal value” as heritage for all humanity.

Japan’s cultural property protection system is advanced, but becoming a World Heritage site entails more extensive conservation, including protecting the surrounding environment. This system also leads to by-products, such as tourism promotion and regional pride.

Inscription on the World Heritage List requires the country and other parties involved to bear a heavy and far-reaching responsibility for preserving the site.

Each heritage site faces its own preservation-related challenges, such as a lack of coordination among related organizations and depopulation.

Preservation costs and technology can also impose challenges.

For example, the Tomioka Silk Mill in Gunma Prefecture, Japan’s first mechanized silk reeling mill, was registered 10 years ago. The World Heritage effect led to increased admission fee revenue, giving the facility sufficient funds to conduct major repairs.

However, if visitor numbers do not return to pre-COVID levels, it could impact future repairs.

The number of World Cultural Heritage sites is nearing 1,000. While many iconic landmarks and sites of obvious historical significance have already been inscribed, the emphasis is increasingly on recognizing the diverse and nuanced values embodied in cultural heritage worldwide.

Other UNESCO systems preserve cultural heritage, such as Intangible Cultural Heritage, which recently honored the “traditional knowledge and skills of sake-making with ‘koji’ mold in Japan.”

There is also Memory of the World, established to preserve and ensure access to documentary heritage.

The boundaries are increasingly overlapping.

Cultural heritage preservation, extending beyond World Heritage sites, involves choosing which of the countless elements of our past to safeguard for the future, using our own perspectives and frameworks as criteria.

The selection of cultural heritage for preservation is inextricably linked to contemporary social contexts.

Conflicts often arise between preservation and development, as seen in recent cases in Japan where ICOMOS issued crisis alerts for cultural properties that should be protected but are threatened.

Whatever the choice, the decision-making process must be something future generations will not be ashamed of.

The Constitution of UNESCO states that “since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed.”

However, since applications for World Heritage listings are made by individual countries, they are prone to be linked with nationalism. When a country applies for registration of a site, comparative studies with other heritage sites with common features are conducted to confirm unique value.

When domestic heritage is registered, it would be beneficial also to appreciate the richness of other cultures discovered through such comparative processes.

Japan can make international contributions in the valuable field of cultural property protection. However, to continue playing an active role in this field, we must not forget the original purpose of aiming for World Heritage.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 8