| The World Heritage of UNESCO and A Guide to World Heritage Sites in Japan |
| At its twenty-third meeting, held in Marrakesh,Morocco,from
November 29 through December 4,1999,the
World
Heritage Committee of UNESCO(United
Nations
Educational,Scientific,and Cultural
Organization)
added 48 sites to the World Heritage
List.Asian
sites included Shrines and Temples
of Nikko(in
Japan), the Dazu Rock Carvings(in China),
Hoi An Ancient Town(in Vietnam), and
the
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway(in India).
The
list now contains altogether 630 sites
of
heritage(128 sites of natural heritage,
480
sites of cultural heritage,and 22 sites
of
cultural and natural heritage). Candidates for inclusion in the list are first recommended by the state parties(158 countries) of the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.Afterward they are screened for outstanding universal value by the Bureau of the World Heritage Committee.The bureau is composed of seven members of the World Heritage Committee (reps from 21 state parties sit on the committee) and related organs, such as the International Council of Monuments and Sites and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted during UNESCO's general meeting in 1972, with a virw to handing down to posterity our commom heritage, by protecting and conserving ruins of former great civilizations, architecture of cultural value,and ecosystems of inestimable value. The idea of the Nubian Monuments, including the Temples of Abu Simbel,constructed by King Ramses U of Egypt. In 1959 these monuments were in danger of being submerged underLale Nasser which was being formed by the construction of the Aswan High Dam across the Nile River.UNESCO appealed for funds to pay for the removal of the monuments to higher ground.Many contris responded,and today the monuments sit in the original spatial relationship to one another on a man-made hillock 60 meters above where they were constructed more than 3,000 years ago. The success of this supranational effort to preserve man's common heritage gave birth to the notion of the World Heritage. As occasion demands,UNESCO extends international support for the conservation of the World Hertage by use of the World Heritage Fund,endowed by signatories to the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. In Japan,the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was approved by the Diet on June 19, 1992.The convention went innto effect in Japan on September 30 of the same year.As of December 2, 1999, the World Heritage List of UNESCO contains 10 sites in Japan(two sites of natural heritage and eight sites of cultural heritage). They are, from north to south,Shirakami-Sanchi(a natural heritage registered in 1993), which has the world's largest virgin forest of Japanese beech; Shrines and Temples of Nikko (cultural heritage,1999),sacred places that include the mausoleum of the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate;Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama(cultural heritage,1995), which are nostalgic places dear to the hearts of the Japanese;Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto(Kyoto,Uji,and Otsu Cities)(cultural heritage,1994), a former capital called Heian-Kyo;Historic Monuments of ancient Nara(cultural heritage,1998),which used to be BuddhistMonuments in the Horyuji Area(cultural heritage,1993),which include the world's oldest wooden structures;Himeji-jo(cultural heritage,1993), which is representative of the castles of Japan;Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome)(cultural heritage,1996), which conveys the ravages of nuclear weapons used for the first time in the history of mankind; Itsukushima Shinto Shrine(cultural heritage,1996), on Miyajima, one of the Three Views of Japan;and Yakushima(natural heritage,1993), which is known for its Jomon cedar reputed to be 7,200 years old. These sites share in common scenes of original Japan and authentic beauty, and defy imitation by modern architecture or artificial parks,no matter how superb they may be. Apart from sites on the World Heritage List,Japan can be proud of many other places of natural beauty and sites of cultural significance. I expect some of these to make the World Heritage List of UNESCO. January 1, 2000 By Haruhisa Furuta Copyright The Setouchi Research Institute （Source） THE EAST Vol.35,No.5 January/February 2000 |