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Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > Japanese Government Policies in Education, Science, Sports and Culture 2000 > Part 2 Chapter 8 Section 6 5 | |
At present, newly discovered ruins, medieval castles, and industrial or transportation-related ruins are primarily being designated as historic sites, gardens and other picturesque places are primarily being designated as places of scenic beauty, and things deemed crucial to preserve based on studies of the condition of flora and fauna throughout the country are primarily being designated as natural monuments.
Additionally, contemporary ruins (after the Meiji period) are selected in accordance with the level of need for preservation, based on the results of a nationwide survey, and are subsequently designated in that order. As such, the Mitsui Miike Mine ruins, Miyahara Mine ruins, and Manda Mine ruins (Fukuoka Prefecture and Kumamoto Prefecture) were designated as historic sites in January 2000. Shikina Garden (Okinawa Prefecture) was designated as a special place of scenic beauty in March 2000.
Investigations into modalities for designation of natural monuments have been proceeding since FY1998.
Regarding areas which have been designated as historic sites, in cases where it is difficult to coordinate between the protection of cultural properties and development projects, as a general rule, local governments receive government subsidies to cover the substantial deficits incurred through the purchase of land, etc.
In order that historic sites continue to be protected and widely utilized in the future, the Agency for Cultural Affairs provides government subsidies for the restoration of historic buildings which serve as a place to experience the history and culture of local areas; the Local Historic Park Project (programs relating to the conservation and utilization of historic and other monuments) which constructs orientation facilities; and the History Rebirth Project (Comprehensive Development Project for Core Historic Sites in Local Areas), which works to comprehensively maintain important ruins and other such sites in local areas. Since FY1998, it has conducted research and development in order to create a program to further a correct understanding and awareness of historic sites by effectively utilizing historic sites in "emotional education," and has implemented the Getting Closer to Historic Villages Project as a model project commissioned to local governments.
In addition, every year around May, the Agency for Cultural Affairs sponsors a program to encourage people to walk, see, and experience historic roads throughout the country, so that people can walk these so-called "historic roads" such as streets and waterways, which are vital to an understanding of Japan's history, and become familiar with the historic sites around them. In FY2000, the main event for this program was held in Nagasaki Prefecture. Furthermore, the Project to Promote the Servicing and Use of Historic Roads was implemented in order to maintain and utilize historic roads together with transport-related ruins to serve as the center of a network connecting various cultural properties in a given region.
In terms of natural monuments, the Agency for Cultural Affairs establishes outdoor observation facilities and educational facilities, and conducts programs to encourage the effective utilization of natural monuments. In FY2000, the Misato Hotaru (Firefly) Museum (Misato village, Tokushima Prefecture) and two other facilities were newly opened, and two facilities, including the Hongan Shozu Itoyo (three-spined stickleback fish) Habitat (Ono city, Fukui Prefecture), continued to undergo maintenance.
Regarding tax-related support measures, when land designated as a historic site is ceded to national or local governments, it becomes eligible for reduced income tax and corporate tax.
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