Aiming for Registration as World Heritage

　We started our movement as the Hakusan Kenroku-en The World Heritage Inscription Promotions Council in 2003, when the Kanazawa Association of Corporate Executives first proposed the listing of Kenrokuen Garden and Mt Hakusan as World Heritage sites.
　With nationwide support for this movement, the candidates that were proposed to Japan’s Advisory Council on Culture for their Tentative List were “The Cultural Heritage and Landscape of the Castle Town of Kanazawa,” proposed by Ishikawa Prefecture and Kanazawa City, and “The Cultural Landscape of the Sacred Peak of Hakusan and its Foothills,” proposed by the three prefectures of Ishikawa, Fukui, and Gifu, along with Hakusan City.
　The Castle Town of Kanazawa and the Sacred Peak of Hakusan remain as candidates, not having been added to the Tentative List, but with the designation of Kanazawa in January 2009 as the first “Historical City” listed under the Historical Town Creation Law (Rekishi Machizukuri Law), and the selection in February 2010 of “The Cultural Landscape of Kanazawa: Tradition and Culture of the Castle Town” as the second example of a national Important Cultural Property in the Cities section, are just some of the impressive fruit of our movement.
　By forging ahead with the movement to register World Heritage properties, we have been able to re-examine the history and the cultural legacy of our home, including the Hakusan Foothills region, and a definite pride and confidence in their home has spread among the people.
　The increase in the desire to protect the historical assets and the historical and cultural landscapes of our home, and pass them on to future generations, is one result of our movement that we would like to proudly share with the world.