PEOPLE
Giving Greater Force to the Preparation of Routes toward Promoting "Heritage Tourism" - Recollections of the Unforgettable Bombing of Hometown Kure City and the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb
Representative Director, General Incorporated Foundation National Congress of Industrial Heritage (Advisor, Public Interest Incorporated Foundation Capital Markets Research Institute）
May 14, 1932 Born [in Kure City, Hiroshima Prefecture]
1957 Graduated from Faculty of Law, University of Tokyo. Entered Ministry of Finance; served successively as Chief, Director-General’s Secretariat, Economic Planning Agency; Deputy Vice Minister of Finance; Director-General, Budget Bureau, Ministry of Finance; Administrative Vice Minister of Finance, etc.
1994 Governor, Japan Export-Import Bank
1999 Governor, Japan Bank for International Cooperation
2001 Advisor, Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc.
2002 Executive Director, Japan Investor Protection Fund
2004 External Auditor, Shiseido Co., Ltd.
Managing Director, Capital Markets Research Institute
2013 Trustee, Director, National Congress of Industrial Heritage
2014 Advisor, Capital Markets Research Institute
2016 Representative Director, National Congress of Industrial Heritage
-- Mr. Yasuda, as the Representative Director of the National Congress of Industrial Heritage, you have the great responsibility of bundling together an “all-Japan” promotion structure. Tell us about how you first became involved with the movement for World Heritage inscription of “Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution”
Our foundation was launched in September 2013. Two months before that, a grand opening party was held at the Hotel Okura on July 14, and I was also invited. Based on the record in my notebook, five days before that, on July 9, Mr. Koichi Hashida (Director, National Congress of Industrial Heritage; Director and Counselor, Kyudenko Corporation) brought Ms. Koko Kato (Managing Director, National Congress of Industrial Heritage) to a study meeting in which I was participating, and introduced her to the people who were there. This study meeting was a private meeting arranged by Mr.
Takashi Imai (Chairman Emeritus, National Congress of Industrial Heritage; President, Industry Club of Japan) and other volunteers from the business community. They were engaged in activities toward having Japan’s industrial heritage sites listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites and working to gain everyone’s support. That was the first time I heard the outline of the “Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution” concept in detail. So, that is how I became involved.
-- What were your impressions at that time?
Hmm. To be honest, I was a bit confused. That is because the appearance greatly differs from that of existing World Heritage sites (laughs). I am no expert in the field, so my limited understanding was that the World Heritage selection was for “single” sites like the pyramids, and they were working to list production facilities leading to the modern era! Many of those facilities are still operating, and there are issues with their future maintenance and repair. I wondered how these could be considered “cultural assets.” Many parties were involved including the national government, local government bodies, and business enterprises. I felt their enthusiasm, but I thought it would not be easy. To tell the truth, those were my impressions.
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)