Chapter 3. For the Protection and Utilization of Cultural Properties
�3 Promotion of the Preservation and Utilization of Cultural Properties
6 Historic Villages and Towns
The 1975 revisions to the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties gave birth to a system for the protection of groups of historic buildings, including castle towns, post towns, temple towns and other historic villages and towns surviving in various parts of the country. Under this system it became possible for municipalities to prescribe their own bylaws for determining preservation districts for groups of historic buildings. It also became possible for them to carry out their; own preservation projects, so as to effectively protect groups of historic buildings which, when taken as a whole together with their surrounding environment, possess cultural value. The national government, upon application from a municipality. selects a special valuable area as an Important Preservation District for Groups. Of Historic Buildings, and offers financial assistance and technical guidance for the municipality's preservation projects. In other words, the national government conducts selection and provides assistance for projects based on the voluntary initiative of the local governments. Unlike the earlier system of cultural property protection, this system takes the many facets of community life culture into consideration, while at the same time recognizing the importance of preserving groups of historic buildings. Municipalities have an important role to play in this type of comprehensive cultural policy, the aim of which is to keep community history alive.
According to the "Cultural Property Consciousness Survey" among those municipalities which reported the existence of historic villages and towns worthy of protection, those municipalities which had established a system of preservation numbered only 22.4'llll. The number of municipalities which answered that they were "taking positive steps" for determining preservation districts was 29.1 %. It is hoped that many more municipalities would take this matter more seriously, and that they would consider introducing this preservation system.
