Do you know how many world heritage sites there are in your country? What about Japan? According to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, Japan ranks 11th in terms of the number of world heritage sites. The first and second, Italy and China, are kind of understandable but isn’t it a little surprising that Japan has more world heritage sites than Greece despite those impressive Ancient Greek Ruins?
What is World Heritage?
The UNESCO defines a World Heritage as the “designation for places on Earth that are of outstanding universal value to humanity and as such, have been inscribed on the World Heritage List to be protected for future generations to appreciate and enjoy”. Places as diverse and unique as the Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, Galápagos Islands in Ecuador, the Taj Mahal in India, the Grand Canyon in the USA, or the Acropolis in Greece are among the World Heritage Sites inscribed on the World Heritage List.
History of World Heritage Inscription in Japan
In 1992, Japan accepted the World Heritage Convention, which had been adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in 1972 and came into force in 1975. The first inscription of Japanese properties was taken place in 1993. As of January 2023, 1,157 sites (900 cultural, 218 natural, and 39 mixed properties) across 167 countries have been inscribed on the list. Among them are 25 World Heritage Sites in Japan, including 20 cultural sites and 5 natural sites.
List of World Heritage Sites in Japan
Here is the list of 25 World Heritage Sites in Japan. Have you visited any of these? Do you know what is special about these sites? We will look further into the sites in Part 2.
Where are they located?
Before moving onto Part 2, let’s have a look at the locations of the sites. As you can see, they are scattered all over Japan! Which one would you like to visit next?
Sources:
Agency of Cultural Affairs, Japan
https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkazai/shokai/sekai_isan/ichiran/pdf/93295501_01.pdf
UNESCO World Heritage Convention
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