UNESCO said Friday it has decided to propose approving Japan's request to expand the World Heritage area of religious sites and pilgrimage trails in the Kii mountains straddling central and western Japan.
The expansion will formally be endorsed by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization at a meeting of its World Heritage Committee in July in Turkey.
The government made a request in January for UNESCO to expand the area of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii mountain range, which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004.
Subject to the expansion will be an area covering a total of 40.1 kilometers of paths at 22 locations in Wakayama Prefecture.
The registered routes, which also straddle Mie and Nara prefectures, will be extended to a total of 347.7 km.
If given the nod, it will be the second time that expansion of a World Heritage area in Japan has been approved, following the enlarging of the registered area of the Iwami silver mine site in Shimane Prefecture.
In July, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee is also scheduled to debate the listing of 17 structures designed by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, including the National Museum of Western Art in Ueno, Tokyo, as World Heritage sites.