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Learning from the Past:
The Message of the UNESCO World Heritage Properties

Kondo Fumi (Kagawa National College of Technology)

Nine hundred and sixty-two, do you know what this number refers to? It is the number of world heritage properties that all of us share, as of 2012. The UNESCO World Heritage Properties include not only natural properties such as landforms but also include cultural properties such as buildings and ruins. Today, I'd like to focus my topic on the cultural heritage properties and to discuss the importance of handing them down to future generations. These cultural heritage sites may have either a positive or negative side in their properties, and both should be passed on so we can learn from them. What effects will it have when such a property gets registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site? Let me give you some examples.

First, I'll give you an example of a positive cultural heritage registered in 2009. Do you know Gagaku? It is a form of music and dance organized around the 10th century, which China brought to Japan and has been handed down to us since ancient times. I have been familiar with Gagaku and have performed it with Hichiriki, Sho and Ryuteki since I was 6 years old. The harmony of Gagaku is composed of deep and unique sounds that western musical instruments do not have. Listening to Gagaku always makes me feel that I am immersed into the ancient Japanese culture and its solemnity. Thanks to Gagaku having been registered as a world heritage property, the uniqueness of Gagaku will be inherited by future generations without being forgotten.

Next, I'd like to talk about what is called “negative heritage.” An example of negative heritage is the atomic bomb dome in Hiroshima. In 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped in the war — it exploded almost directly above the dome. When I visited the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Dome, a strange atmosphere filled the air. I felt more fear than when I read about the atomic bombs in books. Having the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Dome as a World Heritage Property certainly makes us remember how tragic pains a war could bring us and that we need to work to find ways to avoid a war at any cost.

Now, I'll suggest two recent events that should be registered as negative cultural properties. The first one is the September 11th attack in the United States in 2001. The area of the ruined buildings was eventually cleaned away, and only the memorial monument called The Cross of Steel was built. There is a difficult dilemma of whether we should keep the destroyed area so we could remember such a disaster, or should we restore the area so we could move on. I suppose that it is a tough but a necessary decision to make.

The second event is the disastrous Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami of March 11 last year. It was the most recent large earthquake which caused the terribly huge tsunami, which was 13 stories high, and that destroyed a wide range of buildings, including the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. This resulted in a horrific nuclear meltdown. Now, there is the same catch-22 situation as the September 11th incident. In order to get back to our normal life, the destroyed buildings should be reconstructed, which means that the sight of the suffering areas will gradually disappear, and our memories will eventually fade and will lose their vividness.

Like the example of Hiroshima, negative heritage properties may not be as pleasant as Gagaku in your impression. However, they can make us remember our mistakes and avoid doing the same errors. It is my opinion that Japan should build a monument, a museum, and create a movie in memory of not only the dreadful power of nature, but also how we have overcome the hardships with mutual cooperation.

I strongly suggest that these two events be registered in the list of negative cultural properties to learn from unexpected negative events and take them as lessons for our lives. This is a chain of experiencing and learning that we should continue to have, and I think that conveying these messages is something that could heighten the significance of The UNESCO World Heritage Properties.