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Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu (Japan)

Document type
Decision
Reference number
X.C.1
Date
Nov 27, 2000
Source
UNEP, InforMEA
Status
Active
Subject
Wild species & ecosystems
Treaty
Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (Nov 23, 1972)
Meeting
24e session du Comité
Website
whc.unesco.org
Abstract

Property: Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu

Id. N°: 972

State Party: Japan

Criteria: C (ii) (iii) (vi)

The Committee decided to inscribe this property on the World Heritage List on the basis of criteria (ii), (iii), and (vi):

Criterion (ii): For several centuries the Ryukyu Islands served as a centre of economic and cultural interchange between south-east Asia, China, Korea, and Japan, and this is vividly demonstrated by the surviving monuments.

Criterion (iii): The culture of the Ryukyuan Kingdom evolved and flourished in a special political and economic environment, which gave its culture a unique quality.

Criterion (vi): The Ryukyu sacred sites constitute an exceptional example of an indigenous form of nature and ancestor worship that has survived intact into the modern age alongside other established world religions.