About World Heritage Sites

Formally known as the Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage. This convention calls for international cooperation and support towards the conservation of properties of outstanding importance to the common heritage of humanity, such as buildings, monuments, and other sites of universal cultural value; or natural sites such as the habitats of endangered plants and animals, or areas that are examples of the geological or biological evolution of the earth. The convention was adopted at the 17th UNESCO General Conference in Paris in 1972, and Japan was accepted into the convention on June 30, 1992, becoming the 125th State Party to do so (there are a total of 184 States Parties as of July 2007). In Japan, "Himeji-jo," "Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area," "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto," "Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama," "Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome)," "Itsukushima Shinto Shrine," "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara," "Shrines and Temples of Nikko," "Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu," "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range," and "Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its Cultural Landscape" are registered World Cultural Heritage Sites; and "Yakushima," "Shirakami-Sanchi," and "Shiretoko" are registered World Natural Heritage Sites. (As of March 2009)

The World Heritage Committee is responsible for inspecting and inscribing the properties on each State Party's tentative list of World Heritage Sites, investigating the state of the conservation of each site on the World Heritage List, and drafting the list of World Heritage Sites in Danger. The committee consists of representatives from 21 of the States Parties to the Convention, who serve for six-year terms. One third of the committee is re-elected every two years.

The category of World Heritage Sites that includes monuments, buildings, ruins, cultural landscapes, etc.

The category of World Heritage Sites that includes geographical and geological formations, ecosystems, landscapes, the habitats of endangered plants and animals, etc.

Heritage Sites that have been inscribed for both their cultural and natural attributes.

World Heritage Sites are added to the List of World Heritage in Danger if their protection is seriously and clearly threatened by armed conflict, natural disasters, uncontrolled urbanization, pollution, or other imminent dangers. Inscribing a site on the List of World Heritage in Danger alerts the international community of their needed cooperation, and allows for the allocation of monetary assistance from the World Heritage Fund.

Those World Heritage Sites that are inscribed as testimony to the tragedies of humanity never to be repeated are labeled Negative Heritage. (Auschwitz-Birkenau German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp, Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome), etc.)

The Tentative List is the list of candidates to be future World Heritage Sites each State Party presents to UNESCO. Properties that are not on the Tentative List are not investigated by the World Heritage Committee for possible inscription. The Tentative List is submitted to UNESCO at least one year before making official nominations.

The Nomination File is based on scholarly research and surveys, and lists the name, area, and content of the heritage property; proof of its value in terms of both authenticity and integrity; details of its state of preservation; and explanation of the conservation measures being taken for its protection. A Nomination Proposal will first be drafted at the prefectural and municipal level, and the national government will take this proposal into consideration as it drafts the Nomination File, which will then be submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre.

The Core Zone is the registered land area of the World Heritage Site, which will be designated a National Cultural Property under the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties, and thus must receive permanent protection.

A protective area surrounding the Core Zone, in which special regulations and other protective measures will be enacted.

Selection as a World Heritage Site was originally based on separate selection criteria for Cultural Sites and Natural Sites, but this system was revised in 2005, and now selection is based on a set of 10 criteria with no distinction between Cultural and Natural Sites. (The Revised Selection Criteria went into effect at the 2007 World Heritage Committee Session). Properties must meet at least one of the following criteria to be included on the World Heritage Site List.

• "To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius";
• "To exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design";
• "To bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared";
• "To be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history";
• "To be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change";
• "To be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria)";
• "To contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance";
• "To be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth's history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features";
• "To be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals";
• "To contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-site conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation."

Preeminent cultural or natural significance that crosses national borders and is important for the future of all of humanity.

The value of Cultural Heritage Sites (and the criteria for value for their nomination) is based on the genuineness and credibility of the following aspects of the property.

• Form and Design
• Materials and Substance
• Use and Function
• Traditions, Techniques, and Management Systems
• Location and Setting
• Language or other forms of Intangible Heritage
• Spirit and Feeling
• Other internal and external factors

Integrity is a measurement of the wholeness and intactness of Heritage Sites and their attributes. Examining the integrity of a property requires assessing the following conditions:

• Does the property "include all elements necessary to express its outstanding universal value?"
• Is the property of "adequate size to ensure the complete representation of the features and processes which convey the property's significance?"
• Does the property "suffer from adverse effects of development and/or neglect?"

Attached to the World Heritage Nomination Form is a description of the appropriate Management System and methods to be implemented to ensure that the property can be protected and passed down to future generations. It should describe the surrounding environmental zone to be protected and its method of protection, countermeasures against the adverse effects of possible increases in development and tourism in the future, policies for its appropriate use and opening to the public, and how the Protection Management System will function.