The Japan Foundation and Banaras Hindu University, presents exhibition of unique Architectural Designs of the World Heritage Sites in Japan, clicked by Photographer Kazuyoshi MIYOSHI. It focuses on the designs and architectural styles developed uniquely in Japan. The collection is inscribed in World Heritage list for its architecture or technology, monumental arts, town planning or landscape designs.
This exhibition is supported by ‘City of Kyoto’.

 

Date     : 25th February– 18th March, 2016 (Sundays and Holidays closed)
Time    : 11:00 ~ 17:00
Venue  : JM Ahiwasi Art Gallery, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
Entry Free

 

An Introduction to The World Heritage

Mankind has built great civilizations, plenitude of unique cultures, and in the wake of four million years of natural history we find ourselves today immersed in a cultural and natural heritage with no apparent bounds or limits. But the doings of men have often interfered with nature, sometimes even causing its ruin. It is our charge today to preserve the great heritage of nature, as well as the cultures of mankind.

The World Heritage Convention is a document adopted in 1972 by a general session of UNESCO(United Nations Educational Scientific, and Cultural Organization)in Paris. Its aims are to preserve for future generations cultural and natural legacies of world with conspicuous and universal value.

Japan and 186 other countries had signed the convention by July 2011. By signing, these countries pledged to the world that they would preserve the legacies within their lands for future generations, and that they accepted the obligation and responsibility to cooperate with other countries in protecting common World Heritage legacies of mankind. As of July 2011, there were 936 World Heritage sites.

The World Heritage site of Japan that were registered in 1993 for the first time included the “Shirakami-Sanchi Mountain Range”, “Yaku-shima lsland, “Himeji-jo Castle” and the “Buddhist monuments of the Horyu-ji Temple Area”.

In the following years and through the end of 1999, “Genbaku Dome, Itsukushima-jinja Shrine”, the “Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara”, the “Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto City, Uji City and Otsu City)”, the “Gassho-zukuri Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama” and the “Shrines and Temples of Nikko” were added to the list.

At the end of 2000, “Gusuku site and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu” that include Shun-jo Castle among others were added to the list.

In 2004,“Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Ku Mountain Range and the Cultural Landscapes that Surroud Them” were added to the list.

In 2005, “Shiretoko was added to the list of Natural Property. “Iwami- Ginzan Silver Mine” was added to the list of Cultural Property in July 2008.

In June 2011, “Ogasawara Islands” was added to the list of Natural Property and “Hiraizumi Temples, Gardens and Archaelogical Sites Representing the Buddhist Pure Land” was added to the list of Cultural Property.

 

Image : Itsukushima-jinja Shrine, Hiroshima

Image Credit (c) Kazuyoshi Miyoshi/PPS