Visitors to a Tokyo art museum designed by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier have welcomed UNESCO's decision to add it to the World Heritage list, with many lining up before its 9:30 a.m. opening.
Ai Masuda, a 19-year-old college sophomore who came from Yokohama together with her mother to visit the National Museum of Western Art in Ueno Park, said, "I'm happy that this place I've visited a number of times since I was little was acknowledged by the world."
Kazufumi Hayashi, 68, from the city of Funabashi in Chiba Prefecture said, "We should do more to let (the world) know that there are magnificent buildings like this in the Japanese capital."
The nearby Matsuzaka Ueno department store, an outlet operated by Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores Co., started showcasing panels on Monday advertising the museum.
The department store also displayed a banner celebrating the listing decision by a committee of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
"I'm proud that we have now a World Heritage site in my home city," said Mieko Saito, 72. "I hope many people will visit it."