The UNESCO World Heritage Committee recently decided to add the Tomioka Silk Mill to the World Cultural Heritage list as a result of strenuous efforts to preserve the historic building by its previous owner and the local community.

The red-brick building in the city of Tomioka, Gunma Prefecture, which was completed in 1872, became the launchpad of Japan's modern manufacturing industry by achieving mass production of silk using proprietary technologies.

The UNESCO committee made the fateful decision June 21 during a meeting in Qatar.