Japan - Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range

Set in the dense forests of the Kii Mountains overlooking the Pacific Ocean, three sacred sites – Yoshino and Omine, Kumano Sanzan, Koyasan – linked by pilgrimage routes to the ancient capital cities of Nara and Kyoto, reflect the fusion of Shinto, rooted in the ancient tradition of nature worship in Japan, and Buddhism, which was introduced from China and the Korean Peninsula. The sites (495.3 ha) and their surrounding forest landscape reflect a persistent and extraordinarily well-documented tradition of sacred mountains over 1,200 years. The area, with its abundance of streams, rivers and waterfalls, is still part of the living culture of Japan and is much visited for ritual purposes and hiking, with up to 15 million visitors annually. Each of the three sites contains shrines, some of which were founded as early as the 9th century.

Year of Inscription: 2004
further Informations: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1142

Japan - Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Sites

Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Sites (Japan) is an historic sericulture and silk mill complex established in 1872 in the Gunma Prefecture north west of Tokyo. Built by the Japanese Government with machinery imported from France, it consists of four sites that attest to the different stages in the production of raw silk: production of cocoons in an experimental farm; a cold storage facility for silkworm eggs; reeling of cocoons and spinning of raw silk in a mill; and a school for the dissemination of sericulture knowledge. It illustrates Japan’s desire to rapidly adopt the best mass production techniques, and became a decisive element in the renewal of sericulture and the Japanese silk industry in the last quarter of the 19th century. It marked Japan’s entry into the modern, industrialized era, and propelled it to become the world’s leading exporter of raw silk, notably to France and Italy.

Date of Inscription: 2014
further Informations: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1449

Japan - Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome)

I visited this place back in 2008. i think it was the 3rd October, as my brother in law get married on the 4th in Nagano. It was a hot Day ad i can remember that i didn't feel well during the visit of the genbaku area. For me it was to much to see all the burned things they showed in the museum.... the most fascinating thing was the model from the town before and after the dropped bomb...

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) was the only structure left standing in the area where the first atomic bomb exploded on 6 August 1945. Through the efforts of many people, including those of the city of Hiroshima, it has been preserved in the same state as immediately after the bombing. Not only is it a stark and powerful symbol of the most destructive force ever created by humankind; it also expresses the hope for world peace and the ultimate elimination of all nuclear weapons.

Date of Inscription: 1996

Postcard 1: Japan x other Countries RR #86 - unesco cards - received from nightshift in november 2011

Japan - Yakushima

Located in the interior of Yaku Island, at the meeting-point of the palaearctic and oriental biotic regions, Yakushima exhibits a rich flora, with some 1,900 species and subspecies, including ancient specimens of the sugi (Japanese cedar). It also contains a remnant of a warm-temperate ancient forest that is unique in this region.

Date of Inscription: 1993

 

Japan - Shirakami-Sanchi

Situated in the mountains of northern Honshu, this trackless site includes the last virgin remains of the cool-temperate forest of Siebold's beech trees that once covered the hills and mountain slopes of northern Japan. The black bear, the serow and 87 species of birds can be found in this forest.

Date of Inscription: 1993

Japan - Itsukushima Shinto Shrine

The island of Itsukushima, in the Seto inland sea, has been a holy place of Shintoism since the earliest times. The first shrine buildings here were probably erected in the 6th century. The present shrine dates from the 12th century and the harmoniously arranged buildings reveal great artistic and technical skill. The shrine plays on the contrasts in colour and form between mountains and sea and illustrates the Japanese concept of scenic beauty, which combines nature and human creativity.

Date of Inscription: 1996

 

 

Japan - Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama

Located in a mountainous region that was cut off from the rest of the world for a long period of time, these villages with their Gassho-style houses subsisted on the cultivation of mulberry trees and the rearing of silkworms. The large houses with their steeply pitched thatched roofs are the only examples of their kind in Japan. Despite economic upheavals, the villages of Ogimachi, Ainokura and Suganuma are outstanding examples of a traditional way of life perfectly adapted to the environment and people's social and economic circumstances.

Date of Inscription: 1995

Japan - Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara

Nara was the capital of Japan from 710 to 784. During this period the framework of national government was consolidated and Nara enjoyed great prosperity, emerging as the fountainhead of Japanese culture. The city's historic monuments – Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines and the excavated remains of the great Imperial Palace – provide a vivid picture of life in the Japanese capital in the 8th century, a period of profound political and cultural change.

Date of Inscription: 1998

1. Tōdai-ji, 
2. Kōfuku-ji, 
3. Kasuga Taisha, 
4. Gangō-ji, Yakushi-ji, 
5. Tōshōdai-ji, 
6. Heijō Palace, 
7. Kasugayama Primeval Forest

Postcard 1: Tōdai-ji,

Postcard 2: Kōfuku-ji,

Postcard 3: Kasuga Taisha, 

Japan - Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities)

Built in A.D. 794 on the model of the capitals of ancient China, Kyoto was the imperial capital of Japan from its foundation until the middle of the 19th century. As the centre of Japanese culture for more than 1,000 years, Kyoto illustrates the development of Japanese wooden architecture, particularly religious architecture, and the art of Japanese gardens, which has influenced landscape gardening the world over.

Date of Inscription: 1994

1. Kamowakeikazuchi-jinja 
2. Kamomioya-jinja 
3. Kyo-o-gokoku-ji 
4. Kiyomizu-dera 
5. Enryaku-ji 
6. Daigo-ji 
7. Ninna-ji 
8. Kozan-ji 
9. Saiho-ji 
10. Tenryu-ji 
11. Rokuon-ji 
12. Jisho-ji 
13. Ryoan-ji 
14. Hongwan-ji 
15. Nijo-jo 
16. Byodo-in 
17. Ujigami-jinja 

Postcard 1: Rokuon-ji (visited 2008)

Postcard 2: Kiyomizu-dera

Postcard 3: Ryoan-ji

Japan - Himeji-jo

Visited in 2008

Himeji-jo is the finest surviving example of early 17th-century Japanese castle architecture, comprising 83 buildings with highly developed systems of defence and ingenious protection devices dating from the beginning of the Shogun period. It is a masterpiece of construction in wood, combining function with aesthetic appeal, both in its elegant appearance unified by the white plastered earthen walls and in the subtlety of the relationships between the building masses and the multiple roof layers.

Date of Inscription: 1993

 

The pictures below are photos i've taken on October 2nd, 2011 while we visited this "castle"

Hiraizumi – Temples, Gardens and Archaeological Sites Representing the Buddhist Pure Land - Japan

Hiraizumi - Temples, Gardens and Archaeological Sites Representing the Buddhist Pure Land comprises five sites, including the sacred Mount Kinkeisan. It features vestiges of government offices dating from the 11th and 12th centuries when Hiraizumi was the administrative centre of the northern realm of Japan and rivalled Kyoto. The realm was based on the cosmology of Pure Land Buddhism, which spread to Japan in the 8th century. It represented the pure land of Buddha that people aspire to after death, as well as peace of mind in this life. In combination with indigenous Japanese nature worship and Shintoism, Pure Land Buddhism developed a concept of planning and garden design that was unique to Japan.


Date of Inscription: 2011

Postcard 1: MeetUp RR #50B from tinktink0302