Japan's Mount Fuji wins Unesco world heritage status

Mount Fuji, south-west of Tokyo, is an active volcano and Japan's highest mountain

Japan's cone-shaped, snow-topped volcano, Mount Fuji, has been granted World Heritage status, at a Unesco meeting in Cambodia.

The United Nations body selected the mountain as a "cultural" rather than a "natural" heritage site.

Unesco said Mount Fuji had "inspired artists and poets and been the object of pilgrimage for centuries".

Mt Fuji, south-west of Tokyo, is Japan's highest mountain at 3,776m (12,460 ft).

The volcano, which last erupted just over 300 years ago, is visible from the Japanese capital on a clear day.

It is featured prominently in historic Japanese art work, including wood blocks prints.

It is also one of the traditional "Three Holy Mountains" - along with Mount Tate and Mount Haku, both in central Japan.

Unesco listed Italy's Mount Etna as a world heritage site on Friday, saying the 3,300m (10,900 ft) active volcano had "notoriety, scientific importance, and cultural and educational value of global significance".

Japan celebrates Mt. Fuji's listing as world heritage site

Mount Fuji is pictured in this photo taken from a Mainichi aircraft in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, on June 22. (Mainichi)

拡大写真

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- From its prime minister to a trekker, Japan celebrated the inscription of the country's iconic Mt. Fuji on UNESCO's prestigious World Heritage List on Saturday.

"I am happy from the bottom of my heart," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in a statement after the World Heritage Committee under the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization decided in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh to register Mt. Fuji.

"I expect more people to visit Japan from overseas and see Mt. Fuji," Abe said.

Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister Hakubun Shimomura welcomed the move by the UNESCO committee, which inscribed the 3,776-meter-tall mountain under the name "Fujisan, sacred place and source of artistic inspiration."

"I'm so glad Mt. Fuji was recognized as a religious and artistic object," Shimomura said.

Eighty-year-old photographer Shiro Shirahata said he believes there is no other well-proportioned mountain like Mt. Fuji.

"I want to tell people around the world about this beautiful mountain," said Shirahata, who has published nearly 10 photo books of Mt. Fuji and has visited a number of mountains around the world, including the Himalayas and European Alps.

Mt. Fuji covers roughly 70,000 hectares in Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures west of Tokyo.

In Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, a tourist expressed excitement at observing Mt. Fuji on the day it was named a world heritage site.

"I feel fortunate I was able to see Mt. Fuji covered with snow on the day of the registration," said 46-year-old Kenji Nakazawa from Iwafune, Tochigi Prefecture. "I'm going to continue giving attention to the mountain from now on also."

Kokoro Soda, a 17-year-old high school student in Fujiyoshida, said, meanwhile, "We're going to face mounds of problems, such as how to dispose of waste and how to accept tourists. It's necessary that people in our generation are involved in addressing these issues."

Mt. Fuji is Japan's 17th property to make the World Heritage List and first since 2011.

Local residents and officials had earlier attempted to register Mt. Fuji as a world natural heritage site. However, due partly to illegal dumping of garbage, it was dropped from consideration as a candidate in that category in 2003.

June 23, 2013(Mainichi Japan)