Japan's World Heritage Sites. John Dougill

      The Significance of Japan’s World Heritage Sites

       A Journey of Discovery

      In 2012, I set off to tour all of Japan’s World Heritage sites, which numbered seventeen at the time. It involved traveling the length of the country from the north of Hokkaido down to Okinawa. It was an auspicious year to do so, for it was the the fortieth anniversary of the UNESCO convention. By way of celebration, the organisation put on a conference in Kyoto, where I’m fortunate to live, and I was able to attend what the Director General of UNESCO called ‘a unique gathering of the best minds in terms of World Heritage’—560 people from 60 countries.

      Discussions at the conference concerned problems arising from the organisation’s success in terms of registration, for there are now over 1000 World Heritage sites. Japan was a late-comer, only joining in 1992, but in recent years it has proved an eager participant. In the seven years since my initial journey another five sites have been added, namely the Tomioka Silk Mill; Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution; Le Corbusier’s National Museum of Western Art; Munakata and Associated Sites; and Nagasaki’s Hidden Christian Sites. For this revised edition I have therefore had to make further trips, the highlights of which have both been in Kyushu, namely a glimpse of the forbidden island of Okinoshima and a visit to the extraordinary ‘battleship island’ of Gunkanjima.

      But what of my initial journey? Japan is a surprisingly long country and the trip took over four months as I moved steadily southwards from the subarctic in Shiretoko down towards the subtropical in Okinawa and Ogasawara. Contrary to the popular notion of Japan as a place of overcrowded cities, the journey began and ended in remote areas of unspoilt nature. Few countries can be as pleasant to travel around as Japan, for its people are unfailingly polite and the transport system efficient and timely. Though public transport was my preferred option, car rental sometimes proved the only practical option.

      During the time of the Ryukyu Kingdom, important state ceremonies were held in the inner compound of Okinawa’s Shuri Castle, including the reception of foreign dignitaries.

      Along the way there were plenty of adventures. In the mountainous Shirakami area of northern Honshu, my driver fell asleep at the wheel one afternoon, not only wrecking the car but managing to strand us in one of the few spots in Japan with no mobile access and no passing traffic. As midnight approached and we sat vainly trying to sleep in the wrecked vehicle, a flashing light split the darkness and a small police car arrived to tell us that we were camping illegally!

      Massive pillars support the viewing platform of Kiyomizu Temple more than 40 feet (13 meters) above ground. In the Edo Period, devotees of Kannon would throw themselves off in the hope of winning spiritual merit.

      There were other close encounters. At Shiretoko, the hiking group I was with almost came across two brown bears, a mother and her cub, said to be the most dangerous combination for humans. We thought we had steered well clear of them but had to think again when we came to a clearing with uprooted plants and a pungent smell. A few minutes earlier and we would have inadvertently stumbled upon them. Two days later, in Shirakami Sanchi, I did stumble upon a bear at the aptly named Black Bear Falls. It was coming round a bend in the path, and although the advice in such cases is not to panic, I was just about to run for my life when fortunately the bear beat me to it.

      Sadly, it was not possible to do all the sites full justice, for hiking every single nature trail and pilgrimage route could take years. Moreover, there were times when it seemed that fate was determined to thwart me, for everywhere I went there was something under repair. This was sometimes due to the natural disasters that plague Japan. For instance, the pond garden at Hiraizumi had been damaged by an earthquake and the surrounds of the Nachi waterfall by a typhoon. But there was a greater factor at play: of the 3,600 buildings in Japan designated as important cultural properties, 3,300 are wooden. When these ancient buildings need renewing, the repairs can be costly and time-consuming.

      Picturesque views of Mt Fuji have long proved a source of artistic and spiritual inspiration, prompting recognition of the volcano as a Cultural (rather than Natural) World Heritage.

      The

Скачать книгу