Japan Cultural Heritage List Sees 13 Additions

May 25, 2018

Tokyo- The Cultural Affairs Agency added 13 historical legacies to its Japan Heritage list on Thursday, with legacies in Yamanashi, Shizuoka and Miyazaki prefectures making the list for the first time.

The list now contains 67 groups of tangible and intangible cultural assets that have been preserved along with narratives in 43 of the country's 47 prefectures.

Among the new additions is the combination of Japan's oldest obsidian mine and surrounding Jomon archeological sites in the central prefectures of Nagano and Yamanashi, which collectively tell a tale of the culture in the Jomon Period focusing on obsidian, which ancient Japanese people considered to be star fragments and used to make stone tools, and art works such as Dogu clay dolls, according to the agency.

An ancient mountain castle and other sites in Okayama Prefecture that are featured in the popular folklore on ogre buster Momotaro was adopted for the list, as a story made by the group of applicants--four cities in the western prefecture--successfully connected the hero legend to the region's history, it said.

To win heritage designation, which started in 2015, applicant municipalities should present theme-based stories about candidate assets including endemic folkways that have been handed down from generation to generation. Besides, they need to show how to revitalize local communities.

Stories featuring the culture of the Ainu native Japanese people in Kamikawa, Hokkaido, ancient cobbled roads in Shizuoka and Kanagawa prefectures, a unique mountain religion on the Kunisaki Peninsula, Oita Prefecture, and clusters of ancient tombs in Miyazaki are also among the new additions.

The agency plans to have the list include some 100 legacies by 2020. Jiji Press