is a collective term used by the

Japanese government The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary state, ...

's Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties to denote

Cultural Properties of Japan A is administered by the Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), and includes tangible properties (structures and works of art or craft); intangible properties (perfor ...

In this article, capitals indicate an official designation as opposed to a simple definition, e.g "Cultural Properties" as opposed to "cultural properties". as historic locations such as shell mounds, ancient tombs, sites of palaces, sites of forts or castles, monumental dwelling houses and other sites of high historical or scientific value; gardens, bridges, gorges, mountains, and other places of great scenic beauty; and natural features such as animals, plants, and geological or mineral formations of high scientific value.

Designated monuments of Japan

The government ''designates'' (as opposed to '' registers'') "significant" items of this kind as Cultural Properties (文化財 ''bunkazai'') and classifies them in one of three categories: * * , * . Items of particularly high significance may receive a higher classification as: * * * , respectively. As of February 2019, there were 3,154 nationally designated Monuments: 1,823 Historic Sites (including 62 Special Historic Sites), 415 Places of Scenic Beauty (including 36 Special Places of Scenic Beauty), and 1,030 Natural Monuments (including 75 Special Natural Monuments). Since a single property can be included within more than one of these classes, the total number of properties is less than the sum of designations: for example Hamarikyu Gardens are both a Special Historic Site and a Special Place of Scenic Beauty. As of 1 May 2013, there were a further 2,961 Historic Sites, 266 Places of Scenic Beauty, and 2,985 Natural Monuments designated at a prefectural level and 12,840 Historic Sites, 845 Places of Scenic Beauty, and 11,020 Natural Monuments designated at a municipal level. Alterations to the existing state of a site or activities affecting its preservation require permission from the Commissioner for Cultural Affairs. Financial support for purchasing and conserving designated land and for the utilization of the site is available through local governments.

Designation criteria

The

Agency for Cultural Affairs The is a special body of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). It was set up in 1968 to promote Japanese arts and culture. The agency's budget for FY 2018 rose to ¥107.7 billion. Overview The ag ...

designates monuments based on a number of

criteria Criterion, or its plural form criteria, may refer to: General * Criterion, Oregon, a historic unincorporated community in the United States * Criterion Place, a proposed skyscraper in West Yorkshire, England * Criterion Restaurant, in London, En ...

. A monument can be designated based on multiple criteria.

Historic Sites and Special Historic Sites

# Shell mounds, settlement ruins,

kofun are megalithic tombs or tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century CE.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞典� ...

, other historic ruins of this type # Ruins of fortified towns, castles, government administration offices, old battlefields and other historic ruins related to politics or government # Remains of shrines and temples, former compound grounds and other historic ruins related to religion # Schools, research institutions, cultural facilities and other historic ruins related to education, learning or culture #Medical care and welfare facilities, life related institution, other society and life related historic ruins #Transport and communication facilities, forest conservation and flood control facilities, manufacture facilities and other historic sites related to finance or manufacture activities # Graves and stone monuments with inscriptions # Former residences, gardens, ponds and other areas of particular historical significance # Ruins related to foreign countries or foreigners

Places of Scenic Beauty and Special Places of Scenic Beauty

#Parks and gardens #Bridges and embankments #Flowering trees, flowering grass, autumn colors, green trees and other places of dense growth #Places inhabited by birds and wild animals, fish/insects and others #Rocks, caves #Ravines, gorges, waterfalls, mountain streams, abysses #Lakes, marshes, wetlands, floating islands, springs #Sand dunes, spits, seasides, islands #Volcanoes, '' onsen'' #Mountains, hills, plateaus, plains, rivers #Viewpoints

Natural Monuments and Special Natural Monuments

# Animals ## Well-known animals peculiar to Japan and their habitat ## Animals which are not peculiar to Japan, but need to be preserved as well-known characteristic Japanese animals, and their habitat ## Animals or animal groups peculiar to Japan within their natural environment ## Domestic animals peculiar to Japan ## Well-known imported animals presently in a wild state, with the exception of domestic animals; their habitat ## Particularly valuable animal specimen # Plants, vegetation ## Old trees of historic interest, gigantic trees, old trees, deformed trees, cultivated pulpwood, roadside trees, shrine forests ## Representative primeval forests, rare forest flora ## Representative alpine plants, special clusters of plants on rock ground ## Representative clusters of waste land plants ## Representative examples of coastal and sand ground vegetation ## Representative examples of areas of peat forming plants ## Clusters of plants growing in caves or grottoes ## Rare water plants in garden ponds, onsen, lakes, marshes, streams, sea, etc.; algae, moss, microbes, etc. ## Remarkable occurrence of epiphytic plants on rocks, trees or shrubs ## Remarkable plant growth on marginal land ## Remarkable growth in the wild of crop plants ## Wild habitat of rare or near extinct plants #　Geological and mineralogical features ## Rocks, mineral and fossil producing sites ##

Conformable In mathematics, a matrix is conformable if its dimensions are suitable for defining some operation (''e.g.'' addition, multiplication, etc.). Examples * If two matrices have the same dimensions (number of rows and number of columns), they are ...

and unconformable strata ## Fold and thrust strata ## Geological features caused by the work of living creatures ## Phenomena related to earthquake dislocation and landmass motion ## Caves, grottoes ## Examples of rock organization ## '' Onsen'' and their sediments ## Erosion and weathering related phenomena ## Fumaroles and other items related to volcanic activity ## Ice and frost related phenomena ## Particularly precious rock, mineral and fossil specimen # Representative territories rich in natural monuments to be protected (Natural Protected Areas)

Registered Monuments

A separate system of "registration" (as opposed to "designation" hereabove) has been established for modern edifices threatened by urban sprawl or other factors. Monuments from the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

onward which require preservation can be registered as . Members of this class of Cultural Property receive more limited assistance and protection based mostly on governmental notification and guidance. As of April 2012, 61 monuments were registered under this system.

Some monuments of Japan

File:IMG 2602.jpg, Kenroku-en, Kanazawa, Ishikawa is a Special Place of Scenic Beauty File:Saihouji-kokedera01.jpg, Saihō-ji's moss garden is both a Special Place of Scenic Beauty　and a Historic Site File:Marimo lake akann.jpg,

Lake Akan is a lake in Kushiro, Hokkaidō, Japan. It is located in Akan National Park and is a Ramsar Site. History Volcanic activity formed the lake some 6,000 years ago, when a lava dam was formed. The lake used to have a clarity of 8–9 meters in t ...

's seaweed cones (''

marimo Marimo (also known as Cladophora ball, moss ball, or lake ball) is a rare growth form of ''Aegagropila linnaei'' (a species of filamentous green algae) in which the algae grow into large green balls with a velvety appearance. The species can be ...

'') are a Special Natural Monument. File:SannaiCommun.jpg, The

Sannai-Maruyama Site The is an archaeological site and museum located in the Maruyama and Yasuta neighborhoods to the southwest of central Aomori in Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan, containing the ruins of a very large Jōmon period settlement. The ruins of a ...

is a Special Historic Site

Notes

References

External links

{{Cultural Properties of Japan * Historic Sites of Japan *Monuments Natural monuments of Japan Places of Scenic Beauty Special Places of Scenic Beauty *