UNESCO World Heritage for Japan

UNESCO World Heritage Sites represent some of the best natural, cultural and historic attractions in world travel. Below are details of the 20 cultural, natural and mixed sites inscribed for Japan to date (a red World Heritage symbol denotes a site currently regarded as endangered). For more details of these properties, click on the links to the UNESCO website and the photographic galleries of these sites from OurPlace (where available) or see our highlights of Japan for descriptions. Also, check out UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage for Japan below.


1993 - Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area
1993 - Shirakami-Sanchi
1993 - Himeji-jo
1993 - Yakushima
1994 - Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities)
1995 - Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama
1996 - Itsukushima Shinto Shrine
1996 - Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome)
1998 - Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara
1999 - Shrines and Temples of Nikko
2000 - Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu
2004 - Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range
2005 - Shiretoko
2007 - Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its Cultural Landscape
2011 - Ogasawara Islands
2011 - Hiraizumi – Temples, Gardens and Archaeological Sites Representing the Buddhist Pure Land
2013 - Fujisan, sacred place and source of artistic inspiration
2014 - Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Sites
2015 - Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining
2016 - The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement


Intangible Cultural Heritage

Recently UNESCO has begun to document the world's Intangible Cultural Heritage which includes "traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts". The current listings for Japan are shown below - click on the links for more details.


Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

2008 - Nôgaku theatre
2008 - Ningyo Johruri Bunraku puppet theatre
2008 - Kabuki theatre
2009 - Sekishu-Banshi, papermaking in the Iwami region of Shimane Prefecture
2009 - Hayachine Kagura
2009 - Akiu no Taue Odori
2009 - Yamahoko, the float ceremony of the Kyoto Gion festival
2009 - Koshikijima no Toshidon
2009 - Daimokutate
2009 - Oku-noto no Aenokoto
2009 - Gagaku
2009 - Traditional Ainu dance
2009 - Hitachi Furyumono
2009 - Chakkirako
2009 - Ojiya-chijimi, Echigo-jofu: techniques of making ramie fabric in Uonuma region, Niigata Prefecture
2009 - Dainichido Bugaku
2010 - Yuki-tsumugi, silk fabric production technique
2010 - Kumiodori, traditional Okinawan musical theatre
2011 - Sada Shin Noh, sacred dancing at Sada shrine, Shimane
2011 - Mibu no Hana Taue, ritual of transplanting rice in Mibu, Hiroshima
2012 - Nachi no Dengaku, a religious performing art held at the Nachi fire festival