Japan's Meiji Industrial Sites Endorsed For World Heritage Listing

SHIZUOKA, JAPAN - MAY 26: A UNESCO advisory panel has recommended listing the "Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution" as a World Heritage site, the Japanese Cultural Affairs Agency said Monday. The acknowledgement of the sites, representing the country's industrialization in the late 19th to early 20th centuries, fueled expectations for increased tourism in the host regions in Japan, while drawing protest from South Korea, which says thousands of Koreans were forced to work at some of the facilities during World War II. The potential heritage assets include the Hashima Coal Mine in Nagasaki City, otherwise known as "Battleship Island" for its uncanny guise. Some of the facilities, such as the Nagasaki shipbuilding yard, are still partly in operation but require preservation work due to aging. The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) took stock of the historical context of sites where the country achieved industrialization over a relatively short span of 50 years by actively adapting western technologies to the needs and traditions of Japan, according to the agency. The panel also called for reporting on measures to preserve Battleship Island and other deteriorating facilities at a World Heritage Committee meeting in 2018. ICOMOS endorsed all the 23 facilities in eight of the country's 47 prefectures proposed by the Japanese government, the agency said. The recommendation paves the way for a formal decision for listing at the World Heritage Committee's meeting slated for July 3-6 in Bonn, Germany, where 21 member countries including Japan, India and Germany, will meet. If officially acknowledged, it will be the 15th cultural property listed in Japan. In the past two years, both Mt. Fuji and Tomioka Silk Mill were added to the list. -- This video shows Nirayama Reverberatory Furnaces in Shizuoka prefecture.