World Heritage Site

Ginkaku-ji

Kinkaku-ji

Torii at Itsukushima Shrine

Torii at Shimogamo Shrine

The Foreign Engineers' Residence at Iso, in Kagoshima

• Japanese: 世界遺産 (sekai isan)

World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) as the sites of the greatest historical and cultural importance to all humanity, and the most worth protecting. UNESCO also maintains a similar list of performing arts and other practices, designating these Intangible Cultural Heritage.

There are currently 19 World Heritage Sites in Japan, several of which are umbrella categories including numerous individual sites. A number of other sites have been proposed and are in various stages of the process of being considered for inclusion.

Cultural Sites

• Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area
• Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu
  • Tamaudun
  • Sonohyan utaki stone gate
  • Nakijin castle
  • Zakimi gusuku
  • Katsuren gusuku
  • Nakagusuku gusuku
  • Shuri castle
  • Shikinaen
  • Sêfa utaki
• Himeji castle
• Hiraizumi – Temples, Gardens and Archaeological Sites Representing the Buddhist Pure Land
• Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome)
• Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities)
  • Kamigamo Shrine
  • Shimogamo Shrine
  • Tôji
  • Kiyomizu-dera
  • Enryaku-ji
  • Daigô-ji
  • Ninna-ji
  • Byôdô-in
  • Ujigami Shrine
  • Kozan-ji
  • Koke-dera
  • Tenryû-ji
  • Kinkaku-ji
  • Ginkaku-ji
  • Ryôan-ji
  • Higashi Hongan-ji and Nishi Hongan-ji
  • Nijô castle
• Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara
  • Tôdai-ji
  • Kôfuku-ji
  • Tôshôdai-ji
  • Heijô Imperial Palace
  • Kasuga Shrine
  • Kasugayama Primeval Forest
• Historic Villages of Shirakawa-gô and Gokayama
• Itsukushima Shrine
• Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its Cultural Landscape
• Mt. Fuji
• Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range
  • Yoshino and Omine
  • Kumano Sanzan
  • Kôya-san
• Shrines and Temples of Nikko
  • Nikkô Tôshôgû
  • Futaarasan Shrine
  • Rinnô-ji
• Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining
  • Gion-no-su Batteries
  • Hagi castle town
  • Hashima coal mine (Gunkanjima)
  • Hashino iron smelting site (Kamaishi, Iwate prefecture)
  • Iso Ijinkan
  • Nagasaki home of Thomas Blake Glover
  • Several locations within Sengan'en
  • Shôkason-juku
  • Shôkoshûseikan
  • A number of other mines, factory sites, shipyards, and the like in Kyushu and Yamaguchi prefecture.
• Tomioka Silk Mill

Natural Sites

• Ogasawara Islands
• Shirakami-Sanchi
• Shiretoko
• Yakushima

References

• "Japan - UNESCO World Heritage Centre."