The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization convened the 28th World Heritage Committee in Suzhou, China in early July to screen candidates for World Heritage sites, which are cultural or natural treasures meant to be preserved intact forever. The big news out of the session was that a North Korean site made it onto the list for the first time, mainly because South Korea has promised to help with the preservation efforts.
A Japanese site was selected, too. Holy grounds in the Kii Mountains straddling three prefectures and representing three different religions became the 12th World Heritage site in Japan, which, unlike North Korea, has plenty of money to spend on the required preservation. However, a remark from Mie Gov. Akihiko Noro made clear the real value of the selection. He vowed to "make use of the site to revitalize the region."
Obviously, the governor sees the selection as an opportunity to bring in money, and though he didn't specify how Mie and the other two prefectures would "make use of" the holy grounds, everyone assumes he's talking about tourism. The sticking point is that part of the holy grounds are off-limits to women, who tend to spend the bulk of the tourist yen in Japan. If Gov. Noro wants to attract sightseers, he may have to unpreserve a few religious customs.