John Dougill - Japans World Heritage Sites: Unique Culture, Unique Nature

Japans

WORLD HERITAGE SITES

JOHN DOUGILL

The Significance of Japans World Heritage Sites

A Journey of Discovery

In 2012, I set off to tour all of Japans 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 Im 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 Heritage560 people from 60 countries.

Discussions at the conference concerned problems arising from the organisations 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; Japans Meiji Industrial Revolution; Le Corbusiers National Museum of Western Art; Munakata and Associated Sites; and Nagasakis 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 Okinawas 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 bronze bell at Buddhist temples, such as this one at Kyotos Enryaku-ji, can be heard for distances of up to 20 miles (32 km) and require great craftsmanship in casting, with a failure rate of nearly 50 percent.

So which were my favorite sites? The biggest wow came amidst the fabulous gnarled cedar trees of Yakushima even though Id been to the island before and knew what to expect. Walking in the woods one early morning, I stood riveted to the spot as the sun came up over a hillside and a whole swathe of forest was slowly brought to life by its spreading rays. It was as if a black-and-white painting was being transformed before my very eyes into full color. Sheer magic!

The site that most took my fancy, however, was my final destination. It was quite literally a voyage of discovery, for the only way to Ogasawara is 25 hours by ship. It means that relatively few travel to the thinly populated islands despite the beauty of subtropical hillsides set amongst Pacific blues. They were registered with UNESCO because of the unusual life forms that have developed over the millennia, but for myself the history of the islands was no less alluring.

The distinctive prayer-hand roofs of Gokoyama village houses were designed to protect them from snow in winter and to provide space for cottage industries.

Until the 1840s Ogasawara was uninhabited. The archipelago was first settled by a group of Westerners and Pacific Islanders, some of whose descendants remain to this day. At one point, Britain and the United States were arguing over ownership, and only after the Meiji Restoration of 1868 did the islands become officially part of Japan. There is something of the charm of the southern seas about them. Perhaps it was the enchantment of distance, or perhaps it was simply because my journey was drawing to an end. Whatever the reason, Japans most remote World Heritage Site turned out to be the nearest to my heart. You could say it was the one site that truly registered.