World Heritage bridge cleaned for New Year

A bridge registered as a World Heritage site in Nikko, north of Tokyo, has undergone thorough cleaning to prepare for the New Year.

The arch-shaped, vermillion-lacquered "shinkyo", or "god's bridge", is 28 meters long, and lies at the entrance to Futarasan shrine and Toshogu shrine.

On Sunday, priests at Futarasan shrine carried out a ritual to extend gratitude for safety during the year.

Priests and priestesses wearing masks and gloves dusted off the bridge railings with bamboo branches that are about 3 meters long.

Tourists took photos of the cleaning being performed under clear skies.

Year-end cleaning will also be conducted at Toshogu shrine and Rinnoji temple to prepare for worshippers during the New Year holidays.

Japan to nominate 2 sites for World Heritage

The Japanese government will nominate 2 places in Japan as candidates to become UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Relevant government offices agreed on Monday to nominate the Hiraizumi cultural site, made up of Chuson-ji Temple in Iwate Prefecture, northeastern Japan, and ruins in the surrounding area.

The cultural landscape, supposedly a recreation of the Buddhist paradise, was built in the early 12th century by the Oshu-Fujiwara family, who ruled the region.

The other site selected is the Ogasawara islands, which lie about 1,000 kilometers south of Tokyo in the Pacific. The islands are rich in animals and plants found nowhere else in the world.

Among them are the bird species Columba janthina nitens, and a type of blue butterfly called lycaenidae. The islands have been dubbed the Galapagos of the East.

The government will file a nomination document with the World Heritage Committee by February 1st and a team of experts will begin an on-the-spot survey of the 2 sites by around this summer.

The UNESCO committee will then decide whether to add these 2 sites to the 14 Japanese sites already registered as World Heritage sites.

UNESCO designates Gagaku as intangible heritage

The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization has added Japanese court music Gagaku and 12 other items from Japan, to its Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The decision came at a meeting of UNESCO's Intergovernmental Committee of Intangible Heritage in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday.

Gagaku is the fourth form of traditional Japanese performing arts to be designated by UNESCO as an intangible heritage of high historical and cultural value, which needs to be preserved. The other 3 are Nogaku, Ningyo Joruri and Kabuki.

The 12 other newly recognized items in Japan include the Yamahoko Junko parade in the Gion Festival in the ancient capital of Kyoto, and an ancient dance by the indigenous Ainu people in Hokkaido.

Overall, UNESCO added 76 living arts and traditions from 27 countries to its list of intangible cultural heritage. They include tango from Argentina and Uruguay, and centuries-old tapestries from Aubusson in central France.

22 items from China, many from minority cultures, have also been granted the UNESCO status.