Mount Fuji, Kamakura pursued as UNESCO world cultural heritage sites

The Cultural Affairs Agency will recommend Mount Fuji and Kamakura be chosen as UNESCO world cultural heritage sites, aiming for registration in 2013, sources said July 25.

The move comes after the UNESCO World Heritage Committee decided that each country can recommend only one cultural site per year starting with 2014, they said.

Mount Fuji was previously denied world natural heritage status in the domestic screening process, mainly because of the amount of garbage left behind by the thousands of hikers who ascend the mountain each year.

The agency now hopes to have Mount Fuji declared a world cultural heritage site instead.

The government will submit recommendation papers on Mount Fuji and Kamakura to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee by the end of January next year, the deadline for 2013.

First, however, the government, in collaboration with with local governments and experts, is preparing the provisional recommendation papers due by the end of September.

There are 936 world heritage sites, of which 725 are cultural heritage sites. The world heritage committee currently accepts recommendations for up to two cultural or natural sites from each country. For cultural sites, that will change to one each, starting with the registrations for 2014.

Japan has 12 sites on its provisional list of candidates for world cultural heritage sites.

In recent years, however, UNESCO has registered fewer cultural heritage sites. The Cultural Affairs Agency decided to move quickly for Mount Fuji and Kamakura, whose provisional recommendation papers are already in progress. Local governments have worked out draft recommendation papers.

Culturally, the agency says, the mountain has been the "object of religious faith" and is a creative well-spring "source of the arts." The mountain has been depicted in countless ukiyo-e paintings and other works, and has come to symbolize Japan.

The old capital of Kamakura was established by a samurai-led government in an era that spanned 1192-1333. The city has many cultural assets, such as Engakuji temple and the "Great Buddha" statue on the grounds of Kotokuin temple.