Mt. Fuji, Japan’s national symbol, finally became a UNESCO World Heritage site
Posted in: Today's Chili
On June 22, 2013, the Japanese symbolic mountain, Mt. Fuji (Fujisan), which is the highest mountain in Japan and is a traditionally popular destination for tourists, was finally officially designated as a World Heritage site by UNESCO, announced at the annual UNESCO conference held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This is the 17th Japanese World Heritage site.
As soon as this much-awaited good news arrived in Japan, people, especially those who live around the area, started sharing the joy of the occasion.
There are 3 kinds of classifications for World Heritage site: natural world heritage site, cultural world heritage site, and mixed heritage site, and UNESCO granted Mt. Fuji a cultural world heritage status. The reason is that Mt. Fuji has been a very important place for Japan’s ancient mountain worship and also it’s been a favorite theme for many old and new artists whose art is highly valued overseas – including world famous Ukiyoe artist, Katsushika Hokusai.
A scenic area called Miho no Matsubara, which is 45km away from Mt.Fuji, was also included as a part of Mt.Fuji and registered as World Heritage site.
We expect that it will lead to more interest in Japanese tourism.
