Report on Places of Scenic Beauty and Historic Sites Designation Submitted

On November 15, the Council for Cultural Affairs submitted a report on the following places to be designated as Places of Scenic Beauty or Historic Sites to HAGIUDA Kōichi, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list includes the Sakitama Kofun Cluster (Gyōda City, Saitama Prefecture), which includes the Inariyama kofun where the National Treasure ‘iron Inariyama burial-mound sword (J: kinsakumei tekken)’ was excavated, to be designated as a Special Historic Site; fifteen sites such as the Shiraho Saonetabaru Cave Site (Ishigaki City, Okinawa), where the oldest human remains from the Paleolithic period in Japan were excavated, to be designated as Historic Sites; four sites such as the Sudō Family Garden (Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture), constructed at the end of the Meiji Period, to be designated as Places of Scenic Beauty; five sites such as the Nagamine Family Garden (Nagano City), where its Edo-period waterways have been maintained to the present day, to be designated as Registered Monuments. The Council also suggested 133 structures to be registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties, including the Totsuna Bridge (Fukushima City), the oldest surviving steel arch bridges in Japan. (Japanese)