Landscapes which have evolved together with the way of life and geocultural features of a region, and which are indispensable for understanding the lifestyle of the Japanese people

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

, are recognized by the government of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 as under article 2, paragraph 1, item 5 of the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties (1950). Cultural Landscapes of especially high value may be further designated as ; as of April 2011 there are twenty-four such landscapes.

Local governments that are in charge of designated Cultural Landscapes can obtain financial assistance from the Agency for Cultural Affairs

Agency for Cultural Affairs

The is a special body of the Japanese Ministry of Education . It was set up in 1968 to promote Japanese arts and culture. As of April 2007, it is led by the Commissioner for Cultural Affairs, Tamotsu Aoki....

 for surveys and other research, the preparation of preservation plans, maintenance, repair, landscaping, restoration, disaster prevention, and promotional and educational activities.

Background

Research into cultural landscapes began before the Second World War with increasing concern about their disappearance. Historical research into shōen

Shoen

A was a field or manor in Japan. The Japanese term comes from the Tang dynasty Chinese term zhuangyuan.Shōen, from about the 8th to the late 15th century, describes any of the private, tax-free, often autonomous estates or manors whose rise undermined the political and economic power of the...

 and rural engineering, the scientific investigation of geographic features, and studies for urban and countryside planning have since increased. The movement to protect cultural landscapes has also been influenced by the Law Concerning Special Measures for the Preservation of Historical Natural Features in Ancient Cities (1966), the international trend for recognising 'cultural landscapes' under the World Heritage Convention, the designation in 1980 of Mount Hakusan, Mount Ōdaigahara

Mount Odaigahara

, also is a mountain in the Daikō Mountain Range and on the border between the prefectures of Mie and Nara, Japan. The mountain is the highest in Mie. In 1980 an area of 36,000 ha in the region of Mount Ōdaigahara and Mount Ōmine was designated a UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve.- References :...

 & Mount Ōmine

Mount Omine

, is a sacred mountain in Nara, Japan, famous for its three tests of courage.Officially known as , it is more popularly known as Mount Ōmine due to its prominence in the Ōmine mountain range...

, Shiga Highland

Shiga Kogen

or Shiga Highlands, Japan is a ski resort and hiking spot, located in the Jōshin'etsu Kōgen National Park in the highlands of Yamanouchi, Nagano. In 1980, an area of 13,000 ha was designated a UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve.-Ski resort :...

 and Yakushima

Yakushima

, one of the Ōsumi Islands, is an island of about 500 km² and roughly 15,000 islanders to the south of Kyūshū in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The Vincennes Strait separates it from Tanegashima. The highest point on the island is Miyanoura-dake at 1,935 metres...

 as UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 Man and the Biosphere Reserves, the designation of Monuments of Japan

Monuments of Japan

is a collective term used by the Japanese government's Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties to denote Cultural Properties of JapanIn this article, capitals indicate an official designation as opposed to a simple definition, e.g "Cultural Properties" as opposed to "cultural properties"...

, and initiatives such as the 100 selected terraced rice fields of Japan. From 2000 to 2003 a study was made to define the concept of 'cultural landscape' and identify their distribution, with 2,311 areas identified in the first phase and 502 selected for the second, 180 being of particular importance.

Selection criteria of Important Cultural Landscapes

Important Cultural Landscapes are designated based on their type as:

1. single-type Cultural Landscapes associated with
   1. agriculture such as rice paddies
      Paddy field
      A paddy field is a flooded parcel of arable land used for growing rice and other semiaquatic crops. Paddy fields are a typical feature of rice farming in east, south and southeast Asia. Paddies can be built into steep hillsides as terraces and adjacent to depressed or steeply sloped features such...
      
      , farmlands, etc.
   2. man-made grassland or livestock ranching such as hayfields, pastureland
      Pasture
      Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...
      
      , etc.
   3. forests such as timber forests, disaster prevention forests, etc.
   4. fisheries
      Fish farming
      Fish farming is the principal form of aquaculture, while other methods may fall under mariculture. Fish farming involves raising fish commercially in tanks or enclosures, usually for food. A facility that releases young fish into the wild for recreational fishing or to supplement a species'...
      
       such as fish cultivation rafts, nori seaweed
      Nori
      is the Japanese name for various edible seaweed species of the red alga Porphyra including most notably P. yezoensis and P. tenera, sometimes called laver. Finished products are made by a shredding and rack-drying process that resembles papermaking...
      
       cultivation fields, etc.
   5. water uses such as reservoirs, waterways, harbors, etc.
   6. mining or industrial manufacture such as mines, quarries, groups of workshops, etc.
   7. transportation and communication such as roads, plaza
      Plaza
      Plaza is a Spanish word related to "field" which describes an open urban public space, such as a city square. All through Spanish America, the plaza mayor of each center of administration held three closely related institutions: the cathedral, the cabildo or administrative center, which might be...
      
      s, etc.
   8. residences and settlements such as stonewalls, hedges, coppices
      Coppicing
      Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which takes advantage of the fact that many trees make new growth from the stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, young tree stems are repeatedly cut down to near ground level...
      
       attached to premises, etc.
2. a combination of two or more of the above cultural landscapes.

Usage

An overview of what is included in the table and the manner of sorting is as follows: the columns (with the exceptions of Remarks and Pictures) are sortable by pressing the arrows symbols.

• Name: the English name as used by the Agency for Cultural Affairs
  Agency for Cultural Affairs
  The is a special body of the Japanese Ministry of Education . It was set up in 1968 to promote Japanese arts and culture. As of April 2007, it is led by the Commissioner for Cultural Affairs, Tamotsu Aoki....
  
   and Japanese name as registered in the Database of National Cultural Properties
• Criteria: the selection criteria for the designation as Important Cultural Landscape
• Remarks: general remarks
• Location: "town-name prefecture-name"; The column entries sort as "prefecture-name town-name".
• Year: year of designation as Important Cultural Landscape
• Picture: picture of (part of) the Important Cultural Landscape

List

Name	Criteria	Remarks	Location	Year	Picture
	2	Litigation over the Nibutani Dam Nibutani Dam is a dam on the Saru River in Hokkaidō, Japan, which stands at Nibutani in Biratori town, Saru District. Work on the dam began in 1990. It was completed in March 1997, despite objections from the local Ainu people.-Controversy:...  saw the advocacy of Ainu rights in a landmark case (1997).		2007
	1.1, 1.8, 2	Administered from the late Heian period Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...  to the early Muromachi period Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate, which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, two years after the brief Kemmu restoration of imperial...  as the domain of the Sutra Repository Steward of Chuson-ji Chuson-ji Chūson-ji is a Buddhist temple in Hiraizumi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. It is the head temple of the Tendai sect in Tōhoku . The Tendai sect claims that the temple was founded in 850 by Ennin, the third chief abbot of the sect, but most scholars believe that Chūson-ji was founded by Fujiwara no... ; in the Edo period Edo period The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....  it formed part of the Sendai domain Sendai Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. Most of its holdings were contiguous, covering all of modern-day Miyagi Prefecture, small portions of southern Iwate Prefecture, and a portion of northeastern Fukushima Prefecture. The domain's capital, and the ruling family's castle, were located in what... .		2006
	1.2	Important historic pasture.		2008/9
	1.5, 1.7, 1.8	Kanazawa is a renowned centre of Japanese crafts Japanese handicrafts The many and varied traditional handicrafts of Japan are officially recognised and protected and, owing to the folk art movement, are much in demand. Some enjoy status as a meibutsu or regional specialty. Each craft demands a set of specialized skills... .		2010
	1.1			2010
	1.5, 1.8	Riverside district of the former castle town.		2006
	1.5, 1.7			2008
				2010
	2			2009
	1.1, 1.8			2010
	1.1			2007
	1.4, 1.5			2011
	2			2009
	2			2009
	2			2009
	2			2009
	2			2009
	1.1	located on a north facing horseshoe shaped steep slope of ; area: 34 ha (84 acre), average step height: 3 – (up to 8 m (26.2 ft) max)		2008
	1.7, 1.8			2011
	1.1, 1.5, 1.8			2010
	1.1, 1.5, 2	The discharge of water from the Tsūjun Bridge is one of the 100 Soundscapes of Japan 100 Soundscapes of Japan In 1996, as part of its efforts to combat noise pollution and to protect and promote the environment, the Ministry of the Environment designated the . 738 submissions were received from all over the country and the 100 'best' were selected after examination by the Japan Soundscape Study Group...		2008/9
	1.4, 1.7, 1.8			2011
	2			2008
				2010

Further Reading