Sado Gold Mines Added to UNESCO World Heritage List
The latest addition to Japan’s UNESCO World Heritage sites is Sado Island Gold Mines, in Niigata Prefecture, which operated for 400 years until 1989. South Korea had opposed the honor due to the wartime forced labor of workers from the Korean Peninsula, but the registration was eventually approved. Sado Island is among 24 new sites, which include a German castle and a Scottish bog, and is Japan’s 26th World Heritage site including cultural and heritage destinations.
A World Heritage Site may signify a remarkable accomplishment of humanity, and serve as evidence of our intellectual history on the planet or it might be a place of great natural beauty.[7] As of July 2024, a total of 1,223 World Heritage Sites (952 cultural, 231 natural and 40 mixed cultural and natural properties) exist across 168 countries. With 60 selected areas, Italy is the country with the most sites, followed by China with 59, and Germany with 54.
World Heritage Sites in Japan
| Buddhist Monuments in the Hōryūji Temple Area (Nara) |
| Himeji-jō Castle (Hyōgo) |
| Yakushima (Kagoshima) (natural heritage) |
| Shirakami-Sanchi (Aomori and Akita) (natural heritage) |
| Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto and Shiga) |
| The Historic Villages of Shirakawa-gō and Gokayama (Gifu and Toyama) |
| Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Hiroshima) |
| Itsukushima Shintō Shrine (Hiroshima) |
| The Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara (Nara) |
| The Shrines and Temples of Nikkō (Tochigi) |
| Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryūkyū (Okinawa) |
| Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range (Nara, Wakayama, and Mie) |
| Shiretoko (Hokkaidō) (natural heritage) |
| Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine (Shimane) |
| Hiraizumi—Temples, Gardens, and Archaeological Sites (Iwate) |
| Ogasawara Islands (Tokyo) (natural heritage) |
| Fujisan—Sacred Place and Source of Artistic Inspiration (Yamanashi and Shizuoka) |
| Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Sites (Gunma) |
| Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining (Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Kagoshima, Yamaguchi, Iwate, and Shizuoka) |
| The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement (National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo) |
| Sacred Island of Okinoshima and Associated Sites in the Munakata Region (Fukuoka) |
| Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region (Nagasaki and Kumamoto) |
| Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group: Mounded Tombs of Ancient Japan (Osaka) |
| Amami-Ōshima Island, Tokunoshima Island, Northern Part of Okinawa Island, and Iriomote Island (Kagoshima and Okinawa) (natural heritage) |
| Jōmon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan (Hokkaidō, Aomori, Iwate, Akita) |
| Sado Island Gold Mines (Niigata Prefecture) |
Newest UNESCO World Heritage sites (July 2024)
- Beijing Central Axis, China
- Brâncuși Monumental Ensemble of Târgu Jiu, Romania
- Cultural Landscape of Kenozero Lake, Russia
- Frontiers of the Roman Empire – Dacia, Romania
- Hegmataneh, Iran
- Nelson Mandela Legacy sites, South Africa
- Melka Kunture and Balchit, Ethiopia
- Moidams, India
- Phu Phrabat Bat Historical Park, Thailand
- Royal Court of Tiébélé, Burkina Faso
- Sado Island Gold Mines, Japan
- Saint Hilarion Monastery / Tell Umm Amer, Palestine
- Schwerin Residence Ensemble, Germany
- Archaeological Heritage of Niah National Park’s Caves Complex, Malaysia
- Cultural Landscape of Al-Faw Archaeological Area, Saudi Arabia
- Pleistocene Occupation Sites, South Africa
- Historic Town and Archeological Site of Gedi, Kenya
- Umm Al-Jimāl, Jordan
- Via Appia, Italy
- Badain Jaran Desert, China
- Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, Brazil
- The Flow Country, UK
- Vjetrenica Cave, Ravno, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Te Henua Enata – The Marquesas Islands, France