World Heritage Seminar: “Expansion of ‘Heritage’ beyond Boundaries”

Information leaflet (front)

Scene of the seminar

　Since 2018, the Japan Center for International Cooperation in Conservation (JCICC) has been hosting the annual World Heritage Seminar, primarily for staff of administrative institutions responsible for World Heritage sites, to share and disseminate the latest information and discussions. In Fiscal Year 2025, we revisited the core meaning of “heritage” that we aim to safeguard through our daily work, under the theme “Expansion of ‘Heritage’ Beyond Boundaries: Bridging People’s Lives, Beliefs, and Circumstances.” A total of 111 participants from all over Japan attended the in-person meeting held on December 22 at our premises.

　After Dr. SUZUKI Chihei (Agency for Cultural Affairs) presented his report titled “Trends in World Heritage,” summarizing the discussions and decisions of the 47th World Heritage Committee held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris last July, Mr. KANAI Ken, Head of the Resource and Systems Research Section at the JCICC, opened the seminar by explaining its objectives. In the first half of the meeting, two lectures and two case studies were presented. 

　For the lectures, Dr. ITO Fumihiko (Mie Prefectural Saiku Historical Museum) delivered a talk titled “How to Understand ‘Heritage’ in the Context of Complex Cultural Heritage,” focusing on ‘route’ heritage, which encompasses diverse heritage values such as tangible and intangible properties, landscapes, and archaeological sites. Following this, Dr. MATSUURA Kazunosuke (JCICC) presented comparative examples from leading international cases, drawing on his expertise in archaeological protection in relationship with landscape, in a lecture titled “The World Heritage Site ‘Archaeological Area of Agrigento’ and the Archaeological Park System in Sicily.” 

　For the case studies, concrete efforts in value assessment and conservation were introduced. Mr. EBESU Hikaru (Ehime University) presented the “Shikoku Pilgrimage,” a World Heritage candidate involving cooperative initiatives among the four prefectures of Shikoku Island. Ms. TSUCHIYA Mizuho (Osaka Prefectural Education Agency) then introduced the World Heritage Site “Mozu–Furuichi Kofun Group: Mounded Tombs of Ancient Japan,” highlighting its status as an active imperial mausoleum and its growing popularity as a pilgrimage destination among recent Kofun enthusiasts.

　In the second half of the meeting, a panel discussion was held with all five presenters. Together with questions from the audience, we engaged in a productive debate on topics such as the essential sources of heritage value, ways to safeguard and enhance that value, and the meaning of “heritage” within the World Heritage framework.

　We are currently compiling the contents of the lectures, case studies, and panel discussions into a progress report, which will be published by March of this year. Progress reports from past World Heritage Seminars have also been published, and several of them are available in downloadable PDF format on our website. We encourage you to take a look.

Survey on Legislation regarding Cultural Properties in Spain

Interview at the Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute

Interview at the Andalusian Historical Heritage Institute

　The Japan Center for International Cooperation in Conservation has been collecting and translating foreign laws and regulations on the protection of cultural properties in various countries since FY 2007, and has so far published 28 volumes. The project aims to contribute to Japan`s international cooperation and to provide a reference for reevaluating Japanese protection systems in the field of cultural properties. In this regard, we conducted a field survey in Spain, the next target country, from March 19 to 28, 2024.

　Spain used to have a nationally centralized protection system, but since the 1980s, authority has been diverted to the states (comunidad autónoma). Due to its vast territory and cultural diversity, there are differences in protection from state to state. In recent years, many states have enacted legislation regarding cultural landscapes, industrial heritage, and intangible heritage. The Spanish-designated cultural properties, denominated “Bien de Interés Cultural,” are just a tip of the iceberg of “Bien de Patrimonio Historico,” identified by state Institutes for Historic Heritage. Notable is that the last category, mostly not designated, is in some way protected by local urban planning.

　Through this survey, we were able to get a glimpse of the protection of cultural properties in Spain, hardly introduced to Japan until now. Actually, the state protection of cultural properties is obliged to comply with Spanish national and state laws, of which we plan to conduct research in FY 2024 and FY 2025, respectively. Since some state protection systems are well-organized, we can reconsider using such laws as reference for reevaluation of the protections of cultural properties in Japan.