Cultural Landscapes of Japan

Japanese landscapes which have evolved together with the people and with the geocultural features of a region, and which are indispensable for understanding the lifestyle of the Japanese are recognized by the Japanese government as Cultural Landscapes under article 2, paragraph 1, item 5 of the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties. Cultural Landscapes of especially high value can be further designated as Important Cultural Landscapes.

Local governments that are in charge of designated Cultural Landscapes can obtain financial assistance from the Agency for Cultural Affairs for surveys, the preparation of preservation plans, and repair, landscaping, restoration or disaster prevention of designated properties.

Selection criteria of Important Cultural Landscapes
Important Cultural Landscapes are designated based on their type as:


 * 1) single-type Cultural Landscapes associated with
 * 2) agriculture such as rice paddies, farmlands, etc.
 * 3) man-made grassland or livestock ranching such as hayfields, pastureland, etc.
 * 4) forests such as timber forests, disaster prevention forests, etc.
 * 5) fisheries such as fish cultivation rafts, nori seaweed cultivation fields, etc.
 * 6) water uses such as reservoirs, waterways, harbors, etc.
 * 7) mining or industrial manufacture such as mines, quarries, groups of workshops, etc.
 * 8) transportation and communication such as roads, plazas, etc.
 * 9) residences and settlements such as stonewalls, hedges, coppices attached to premises, etc.
 * 10) a combination of two or more of the above cultural landscapes.

Usage
An overview of what is included in the table and the manner of sorting is as follows: the columns (with the exceptions of Remarks and Pictures) are sortable by pressing the arrows symbols.
 * Name: the English name as used by the Agency for Cultural Affairs and Japanese name as registered in the Database of National Cultural Properties
 * Criteria: the selection criteria for the designation as Important Cultural Landscape
 * Remarks: general remarks
 * Present location: "town-name prefecture-name"; The column entries sort as "prefecture-name town-name".
 * Picture: picture of (part of) the Important Cultural Landscape