PEOPLE
Vice-Governor of Shizuoka Prefecture
How were you thinking of implementing the plan?
For a while, Ms. Koko Kato and I were on the phone with each other for roughly two hours almost every day. I still remember clearly when she phoned me at about 10 p.m. on Christmas eve. Now Christmas eve is usually a special family time that you spend with the people who are dearest to you, isn’t it? Well, it certainly was for me, but here she was calling again about the World Heritage project and the usual discussion ensued. You would think I’d end the call as soon as possible, after all it was Christmas eve, but there were points we didn’t agree on and we had to work them out, so the call went on and on (laughs). I think this was another of our two-hour discussions. What a memory.
Ms. Koko Kato’s idea of having the Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution inscribed on the World Heritage list is really wonderful, and her strong conviction and passion for the project would make anyone want to support her. That’s why I was willing to work hard to solve the problems that were getting in the way. Ms. Kato wanted to see Miike Port on the World Heritage list and so did everyone in the local community. It had to be done in such a way, however, that there would be no hinderance to the continuing operations of the port. Under the Port and Harbor Act, Miike Port is already designated as a special major port and therefore is required to “formulate a plan for the development, utilization and preservation of the port.” This port includes World Heritage installations, and so long as the Port and Harbor Act is properly and rigorously applied, it is possible to conserve and manage those installations without drafting new laws or changing laws that already exist. This was an area in which I felt I had the practical experience needed to draft a good proposal.
How did the Agency for Cultural Affairs react to your proposal to apply the provisions of the Port and Harbor Act?
My job as an administrator only went so far as to draft the proposal. Ms. Koko Kato handled the negotiations with the Agency for Cultural Affairs. Apparently, the Agency had no complaints about the proposal, but from start to finish they insisted that cultural properties can only be conserved under the terms of the Act on Protection of Cultural Properties. We never did get an OK from them, but that was expected. It was my opinion that the national government had to create a completely new system for World Heritage sites.
In the end, the Cabinet Secretariat, instead of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, took over responsibility for promoting the World Heritage inscription of the Sites of Meiji Restoration, and it was decided to conserve and manage Miike Port under the provisions of the Port and Harbor Act.
Even so, many of the people involved in managing Japan’s cultural properties probably thought that MLIT and those responsible for the country’s ports and harbors would not be able to properly manage heritage properties. After all, these were people responsible for development not conservation. Well, that was all the more reason we all felt strongly that we had to do this perfectly. I think Ms. Koko Kato played a significant part in convincing the Ministry of this.
Once a property is inscribed on the World Heritage list, UNESCO requires that the conservation and management plan, submitted with a letter of recommendation, be implemented. UNESCO also requires the drafting and implementation of an interpretation plan. You drafted the conservation and management plan for Miike Port.
I worked on the initial rough draft of the conservation and management plan with Masafumi Mori who was a planning officer in the Kyushu Region Development Bureau at the time and Oba who was only in his second year at the Ministry. There was no precedent for drafting a conservation and management plan under the provisions of the Port and Harbor Act when a whole port was to be a World Heritage site. We went through a lot of trial-and-error in drafting the plan. The job was made even harder because we had to draft the document in both Japanese and English so that we could get the advice of overseas experts. Ms. Koko Kato rewrote the draft putting the finishing touches and made it quite a powerful document. Looking at the final version, I see a few places still remaining that I originally wrote, so it feels good to know I made a contribution.
Former Director of Nagasaki City World Heritage Office
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)