Following a recommendation by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), a UNESCO advisory panel, the World Heritage Committee is expected to formally decide in early July to put Japan's "Sites of the Meiji Industrial Revolution" on UNESCO's World Heritage list. These sites testify to the rapid industrialization Japan achieved after introducing Western technologies toward the end of the Edo Period (1603-1878).
The sites — 23 facilities in eight prefectures — are material testimony to Japan's rapid modernization through amalgamation of its traditional skills and Western technologies. It is noteworthy that the council highly evaluated the historical significance of these sites. While the Japanese can be proud of the recommendation, they also should take it as an opportunity to look objectively at various aspects of what the rapid industrialization brought to the country.
The 23 facilities are mainly facilities for heavy industries such as iron and steel production, shipbuilding and coal mining that were built over a period from the 1850s to 1910. They are located in five prefectures in Kyushu as well as in Iwate, Shizuoka and Yamaguchi prefectures. Some of the facilities, such as the Yawata steelworks in Fukuoka Prefecture and the Nagasaki shipbuilding yard, are still partly in operation. If they are listed on the World Heritage list, Japan will have 15 cases on the cultural heritage list and four cases on the natural heritage list.