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The Authenticity of the Hidden Christians’ Villages in Nagasaki: Issues in Evaluation of Cultural Landscapes

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  • Tinka Delakorda Kawashima

    (Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hiroshima University, 1-1-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8524, Japan)

Abstract

Located in the north-western part of Kyushu, “Hidden Christians Sites in the Nagasaki Region” were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018. This serial property consists of twelve sites, including the Christian villages that bear unique testimony to a cultural tradition nurtured under a long period of religious prohibition. Based on fieldwork research at Kirishitan villages in Hirado City, this paper shows how the global conservation strategies affect the local people and the sustainability of their cultural tradition. Comparing UNESCO and Japanese cultural landscape protection policies, I argue that the evaluation and selection of sites that begin at the local authorities and stakeholders’ level, is eventually reduced to tangible properties ready-made for tourist consumption. Here, the evaluation subsides under the UNESCO authenticity criteria and narrow governmental interests towards the cultural tradition it is supposed to protect. Therefore, for the protection of cultural landscapes and the living traditions, the decisions by cultural heritage protection authorities should be carefully made, based on scientific research of a cultural tradition, and in the interest of the tradition’s living successors.

Suggested Citation

  • Tinka Delakorda Kawashima, 2021. "The Authenticity of the Hidden Christians’ Villages in Nagasaki: Issues in Evaluation of Cultural Landscapes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-22, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:8:p:4387-:d:536315
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Vassiliki Vlami & Stamatis Zogaris & Hakan Djuma & Ioannis P. Kokkoris & George Kehayias & Panayotis Dimopoulos, 2019. "A Field Method for Landscape Conservation Surveying: The Landscape Assessment Protocol (LAP)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-20, April.
    2. Emiko Kakiuchi, 2014. "Cultural heritage protection system in Japan: current issues and prospects for the future," GRIPS Discussion Papers 14-10, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mengling Yang & Chong Wu & Lei Gong & Guowei Tan, 2024. "Coupling Coordination Relationship between Cultural Landscape Conservation and Socio-Economic System in Ethnic Villages of Southeast Guizhou," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-21, August.

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