PEOPLE
The Meiji Industrial Revolution: A Story of Broad Vision and a Strong Sense of Mission to Undertake New Challenges for the Good of the Nation and its People
Deputy Director-General, Lifelong Learning Policy Bureau, MEXT
Former Counsellor, Cabinet Secretariat
Born on December 8, 1961 in Saga Prefecture. Graduated from the University of Tokyo Faculty of Law in 1986. Spent his childhood in Fukuoka City, moving to Tokyo and then Yokohama where he attended and later graduated from a Kanagawa prefectural high school. His ties to Kyushu, the place of his birth, are strong. Both parents are from Kumamoto Prefecture and one of his grandmothers is from Kagoshima Prefecture. He also got to know the city of Omuta in Fukuoka Prefecture when he visited his uncle there as an elementary school student. At the time, his uncle was employed there by Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd. As a producer at NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), his father was involved in the production of “Higata no Umi” (Ocean Mudflats), a segment on the Ariake Sea of Kyushu that was broadcast as part of the NHK TV series, Shin Nihon Kiko (Japan Journeys).
In April 1986, he joined the then Ministry of Education (now the Ministry of Education, Sports, Culture, Science and Technology (MEXT) after the merger with the Science and Technology Agency in 2001) where he held a number of positions. In April 2006, he was put in charge of World Heritage matters as the Director of the Monuments and Sites Division, Cultural Properties Department in the Agency for Cultural Affairs. In July 2007, he was appointed Director of the Local Facilities Aid Division in MEXT’s Facilities Department, and in July 2009, he was appointed Director of the Elementary and Secondary Education Bureau and put in charge of school management support. In August 2010, he became Director of the Research Promotion Bureau’s Information Division where he oversaw the K Computer project. In May 2012, he was appointed as a Counsellor in the Cabinet Secretariat (Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary) while also acting as the director of the office for the promotion of World Heritage inscription of life and industrial heritage sites where he oversaw the Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution. Since August 2015, he has held the position of Deputy Director-General of MEXT’s Lifelong Learning Policy Bureau.
The Kyushu Prefectural Governors Conference responds to the 2006 call for World Heritage nominations
Japan became a signatory to UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention and submitted its first nominations for world heritage sites in 1992. There were 12 provisional nominations on the List that year. At that time, the Agency for Cultural Affairs was solely responsible for selecting sites in Japan for nomination and there were no calls for public recommendations.
In April 2006, I was appointed Director of the Monuments and Sites Division of the Cultural Properties Department in the Agency for Cultural Affairs. In September of the same year, the Agency for Cultural Affairs invited local public entities to submit nominations for World Heritage inscription.
In November, the Kyushu Prefectural Governors Conference submitted a proposal to the Agency for Cultural Affairs to nominate the Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution for World Heritage inscription. At that time, the project was named the “Modern Industrial Heritage Sites in Kyushu and Yamaguchi” and as the name implied included sites in Yamaguchi as well the prefectures of Kyushu, but not the cities of Kamaishi (Iwate Prefecture) or Nirayama (Shizuoka Prefecture). The application was made in the name of six prefectures and eight cities (Hagi, Kitakyushu, Omuta, Nagasaki, Karatsu, Uki, and Kagoshima).
Former General Manager, Nagasaki Shipyard and Machinery Works, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
Chairman, Fujisankei Group
Executive Managing Advisor, Fuji Television Network, Inc.
Executive Managing Advisor, Fuji Media Holdings, Inc.
Advisor, Federation of Japan Port and Airport Construction Association
(Ex. Chairman of Specialists Center of Port and Airport Engineering)
Mayor of Nagasaki City
Former Director of the Sano Tsunetami Memorial Museum (currently known as Sano Tsunetami and the Mietsu Naval Dock History Museum)
Director of NPO Association for Thinking about Satoyama
Director of National Congress of the Industrial Heritage
Honorary Chief Priest Toshinari Ueda
Former Mayor of Omuta City
Archaeologist and Heritage Conservation Specialist
A fellow of the Japan Federation of Engineering Societies
Team Member of the Industrial Project Team Office for the Promotion of World Heritage Listing under Cabinet Secretariat
Governor of Kagoshima Prefecture
Mayor of Hagi City
Mayor of Uki City, Kumamoto Prefecture
The Former Employee of Nippon Steel Corporation
An Associate Professor of the Faculty of Science and Engineering in Iwate University
Chairman of the Tourist Guide Association of Misumi West Port
President of Kuraya Narusawa Co., Ltd.
Chairman of Izunokuni City Tourism Association
Director and General Manager of Gunkanjima Concierge
Producer of the Gunkanjima Digital Museum
Owner at Tōge Chaya
Chairman: Mr. Hidenori Date
President: Mr. Masahiro Date
Proprietor, Houraikan Inn
Representative Director of Egawa Bunko non-profit incorporated foundation
The 42nd head of the Egawa Family
Democratic Party for the People (DPP) Representative for Nagasaki Prefecture
President of the NPO, Way to World Heritage Gunkanjima
Representative Director
MI Consulting Group
President of Watanabe Production Group and Honorary Chair of Watanabe Productions Co., Ltd.
Member of the House of Councillors
Governor
Kagoshima Prefecture
World Heritage Consultant
Director and Dean, The Kyushu-Asia Institute of Leadership
Representative Director, SUMIDA, Inc.
Journalist, founder of the Shimomura Mitsuko Ikikata Juku School
Representative, Rally Nippon
Chairman, Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution World Heritage Route Promotion Council Director, National Congress of Industrial Heritage
Representative Director, General Incorporated Foundation National Congress of Industrial Heritage (Advisor, Public Interest Incorporated Foundation Capital Markets Research Institute）
Mayor of Nagasaki City
Policy Director at Heritage Montreal
World Heritage Consultant
Executive Director of Kogakuin University
Heritage Architect and International Consultant
Head of Data Acquisition at The Glasgow School of Art’s School of Simulation and Visualisation
Head of Industrial Heritage, Historic Environment Scotland, Edinburgh
Scottish Ten Project Manager, Historic Environment Scotland, Edinburgh
Mayor of Izunokuni City, Shizuoka Prefecture
Pro-Provost and Chairman of Council of the Royal College of Art. Heritage advisor of Canal & River Trust for England and Wales.
Dean of Tokyo Rissho Junior College
Professor emeritus of Keio University
Mayor of Kitakyushu City
At the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee convened in Bonn, Germany, from June 28 to July 8, 2015, the decision was approved to inscribe the Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution on the World Heritage list.
At a celebratory party held to mark the occasion, some of the primary promoters of the project spoke of their joy in achieving their goal and of the trials and tribulations to getting there.
Director and Managing Executive Officer, Hanshin Expressway Company Limited
Member, Board of Directors, National Congress of Industrial Heritage
Vice-Governor of Shizuoka Prefecture
Mayor of Hagi City
Chairman, Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd.
Mayor of Omuta City
Deputy Director-General, Lifelong Learning Policy Bureau, MEXT
Former Counsellor, Cabinet Secretariat
Mayor of Kamaishi City
Member, Board of Directors, National Congress of Industrial Heritage Counselor, Shimadzu Limited
Chairman of the Consortium for the World Heritage Inscription of Modern Industrial Heritage (Kyushu-Yamaguchi) and governor of Kagoshima Prefecture (as of 2015)