PEOPLE
Director and Managing Executive Officer, Hanshin Expressway Company Limited
Member, Board of Directors, National Congress of Industrial Heritage
A perceived threat to an important economic operation: What if Miike Port is made unusable?
How did the local community react? Did they immediately support the idea?
Oh no! It wasn’t that simple (laughs). In fact, it was exactly the opposite. “Wait a minute,” I told Ms. Kato frankly, “I understand the historical value, but this is a major port and one of the pillars of the local economy. If it is declared a cultural property, we won’t be able to use it anymore. No one here wants that to happen.”
Back then, when a building or facility was declared a cultural property, permission was required to change even just one screw or nail. Obviously, this would hinder both the management and business operations of the port. And this wasn’t just a problem for Miike Port. It would be the same for the other operational heritage assets, like the Mitsubishi Dry Dock in Nagasaki and Nippon Steel Corporation’s Yawata Steel Works in Kitakyushu. These are facilities owned and operated by private corporations who would not necessarily be grateful for having them declared cultural properties. I urged Ms. Koko Kato to take this into consideration and to proceed with care.
Sometime later, I mentioned the idea of getting Miike Port listed as a World Heritage site to Wataru Aso who was at the time governor of Fukuoka Prefecture, one of the other entities responsible for managing the port. He didn’t like the idea at all (laughs). “Rather than that,” he said, “you should be thinking about managing the port to facilitate its use. The most important thing is that it is fully operational and easy to use.” I made sure to let Ms. Koko Kato know that there was little local support for her idea.
At that point a new scheme was worked out for preserving operational heritage sites that did not rely on the Act on Protection of Cultural Properties. According to Koko Kato, you had a hand in developing that scheme.
I didn’t do anything or suggest anything specific. What I did do was directly convey the concerns and fear, the cool reception to the idea that permeated the local community. “There is certainly value in getting listed as a World Heritage site,” I said, “but there are a number of obstacles to overcome first. Careful thought should be given to how to overcome those considerable obstacles.”
Ms. Koko Kato had naively assumed that the local communities would be delighted. But my warnings made her realize that it wasn’t that simple. She went on to seek out the ideas and cooperation of a lot of people, and with their help managed to create a new framework applying various laws and regulations, like the Port and Harbor Act, River Act, Landscape Act and the various environmental acts. She went about the process of creating a framework in which operating facilities could continue to operate while being conserved as World Heritage sites.
When did the tide of local opinion change?
I wasn’t directly involved, but I believe it must have been around the time the Democratic Party of Japan came to power and began implementing regulatory reform policies. This was also when the Cabinet Secretariat took over responsibility for World Heritage matters as a part of its efforts to revitalize local communities. These policies continued under the Abe administration and accelerated the move for World Heritage inscription.
During this time, I’m told, the head of the Ports and Harbors Bureau at MLIT, the deputy director in charge of ports and harbors in the Kyushu Regional Development Bureau, and others in relevant posts worked to develop a new legal and operational framework for the project. I’m sure it must have been very difficult, but they were clearly moved by Ms. Koko Kato’s passion and so worked hard to pool their ideas and resources. I suppose they may have felt like they were caught up in a tornado (laughs).
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)