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Pursuing the spiritual culture of Japan

Here on this planet, there are a multitude of irreplaceable heritage sites for humans, such as magnificent geographical formations, a whole spectrum of animals and plants as well as an infinite number of relics that developed unique cultures. We categorize world heritage as precious assets having been created through generations on earth and the history of mankind, which we have now inherited at this time. These values not only include external appearance like shape, form or scale, but also track the living people around them such as systems and customs for maintaining and inheriting these precious assets.

In the Kansai region, five sites have been designated as world cultural heritage sites, including Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area, Himeji-jo, Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto and Nara, and Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range. Half the cultural heritage sites within Japan are located in the Kansai region. In addition, Nogaku Theatre, Ningyo Johruri Bunraku Puppet Theatre and Kabuki, which are listed as World Intangible Cultural Heritage, also came into existence from the Kansai region.

These developments are closely tied to the governments and rites which were situated in Osaka, Nara and Kyoto for over 1,200 years since the foundation of the ancient Japanese nation. In the Kansai region, international culture exchanges were actively pursued via East Asia or the Silk Road since ancient times. The people in this region willingly absorbed techniques and construction methods introduced from China and the Korean peninsula, and have established unique Japanese cultures and traditional forms of their own under the influence of these continental countries. In Kansai, temples, shrines, Buddhist images and traditional performing arts which contain all this history came down to the present as World Heritage. We aim to introduce you to the World Heritage sites within the Kansai region, describing the regional character of Japan with the spiritual and aesthetic feeling of the Japanese people that exist in all these precious assets.