| Summary/Abstract |
Between 1993 and 2018, Japan successfully applied to have 18 cultural sites and four natural sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List of places deemed to be of ‘outstanding universal value’ and ‘interest’. At first glance, the former appear as a disparate collection of monuments chosen strictly on the basis of their individual merits, but a closer examination reveals a number are bound together by a common discourse – ‘the Japan as cultural synthesizer thesis’ – which dates back to the Meiji period. In 1916 Ukita Kazutami lamented that while Japan’s unique ability to synthesize Asian and Western civilizations had positioned it to usher in a new, more advanced global civilization, Japan has never produced any unique cultural achievements worthy of the world’s respect. On what basis, then, could Japan gain international respect and justify its claim to world leadership? The World Heritage List has belatedly provided Japan with a venue to answer that question. UNESCO’s experts have bestowed international recognition upon cultural sites chosen and narrated by Japan to celebrate a proud national heritage that also possesses universal value characterized by respect for foreign cultures, religious tolerance, respect for nature, industrial communitarianism, and a commitment to world peace.
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