Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 4.19 Distribution of World Heritage sites by continents and categories, 2008 (UNESCO)
As a result, faith-related sites have important meanings as a cultural heritage site.
Seven out of eleven World Cultural Heritage sites in Japan are religion-related, with
most in the tentative registration list religion-related heritage sites (Fig. 4.20 ). For
example, the site “Sacred Places and Pilgrimage Routes” in the Kii mountain Range
was registered as a World Heritage site for its association with the religiously sacred
places of Yoshino and Kumano and its farming and mountain village landscapes.
The Nagasaki Church Group is the fi rst tentative candidate site related to
Christianity in Japan. Although the negative side of its history has often been
emphasized in the Christian faith, the move here is to evaluate its universal value
and uniqueness to Japan as a cultural heritage site. This could be said to be an
epoch-making event in the history of religion in Japan. Simultaneously, the rural
landscapes including the church group involve the interactions between the lives of
the people and the environment of the area, and hence the entire local culture, which
was inherited, will be acknowledged to be a cultural heritage.
4.2.3
World Heritage Association as the Producer
4.2.3.1
Establishment of the World Heritage Association
The nomination of the Nagasaki Church Group as a candidate World Heritage site
involved many people, with the campaign led by the World Heritage Association
playing a particularly important role. The World Heritage Association is a voluntary
organization that was established on September 15, 2001, with the aim of promoting
the registration of the churches as World Heritage sites. The association included
people from churches, local companies, the mass media, and local government, and
had approximately 80 members. The group has steadily wrestled with academic
investigations and research on the architectural value of the Nagasaki Church Group
and its distinctive local historical and cultural background; for example, the hidden
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