6 Japanese Items Added to UNESCO Intangible Heritage List

Tokyo, Dec. 11 (Jiji Press)–A UNESCO intergovernmental committee decided Thursday to add six items from Japan, including Murakami Festival in the city of Murakami, Niigata Prefecture, central Japan, to the U.N. agency’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list. This marked the first registration of a Japanese intangible asset since traditional sake brewing was added to the UNESCO list last year. Four of the six new items–Murakami Festival, Ofune Festival of Hitachi Otsu in the city of Kitaibaraki in the eastern prefecture of Ibaraki, Hojozu Hachimangu Shrine Hikiyama Tsukiyama Festival in the city of Imizu in Toyama Prefecture, central Japan, and Otsu Hikiyama Festival in the city of Otsu in the western prefecture of Shiga–will be registered under the category of “yama, hoko, yatai, float festivals.” “Echizen Torinoko-type handmade ganpi fiber paper” in the city of Echizen in the central prefecture of Fukui will be inscribed under the “washi” category, and techniques of crafting handwoven “Nakatsugi-omote” for tatami mats under the category of “traditional skills, techniques and knowledge for the conservation and transmission of wooden architecture.” The six items were recommended as extended nominations for the three already-inscribed Japanese intangible heritage categories. Therefore, the number of Japanese items on the UNESCO list will remain unchanged at 23. Japan has a large number of registered assets, and screening for the country is conducted once every two years, in principle. But extended nominations are excluded from the rule. The country has proposed the inscription of “shodo” traditional calligraphy on the intangible heritage list. UNESCO is expected to decide whether to register it around autumn 2026. Japan has also decided to recommend “kagura” ritual ceremonial dance and “onsen bunka” hot spring culture for addition to the Intangible Cultural Heritage list, aiming for the registration of the former in 2028 and the latter in 2030. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]