Christianity sites in Japan seen gaining World Heritage status

May 4, 2018

Tokyo- A UNESCO advisory panel has recommended that sites related to Christianity in southwestern Japan be inscribed on the World Cultural Heritage list, the Cultural Affairs Agency and the Environment Ministry said early Friday.

In line with the recommendation, the listing of Christian churches and related sites in Nagasaki and Kumamoto prefectures is expected to be approved at a meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee to be held in Bahrain in June and July.

Japan says the assets show how local Christians upheld their faith despite persecution by the Tokugawa shogunate government.

A separate advisory body, meanwhile, recommended putting off World Heritage listing of natural sites in Kagoshima Prefecture's Amami area and in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan.

It will be the six straight year that a Japanese cultural heritage site has been added to the UNESCO World Heritage List since the 2013 registration of Mount Fuji. The Christianity-related properties will be the 18th World Cultural Heritage site in Japan. Jiji Press