Political Implications Can't Be Denied 〜否定できない政治的影響〜

2013/8/19

   There is no denying that political elements can affect the registration of world heritages as exemplified by the circumstances that led to the inscription of Japan's Iwami silver mine. This is evident from a county-by-country comparison of the number of registered world heritage sites. They tend to concentrate in Western Europe. Italy leads the list with 47 sites, followed by Spain with 44, China with 43, France with 38 and Germany with 37. As many as 32 countries do not have even one among the 190 member countries of the World Heritage Convention. As the media often criticizes that ICOMOS, an advisory body to UNESCO, is controlled by specialists mainly from Western Europe, it looks hard to rule out that more advantages are enjoyed by economically rich and politically stable countries that have many researchers and specialists. In the case of Iwami silver mine, too, the alleged political maneuvering by Seiichi Kondo, then Japanese Ambassador to UNESCO, became the target of criticism both at home and abroad.

 

 石見銀山の登録までの経緯からも見受けられるように、世界遺産は政治的な影響が強いことは否定できない。それは世界遺産の登録数にも表れている。イタリア(47件)、スペイン(44件)、中国(43件)、フランス(38件)、ドイツ(37件)など、西欧に偏り、世界遺産条約締結の190カ国中、1件も登録遺産を持たない国が32カ国もある。「諮問機関のイコモスが西欧中心の専門家で牛耳られている」というマスコミからの批判があるように、経済的に豊かで、研究者の多い、政治的に安定した国に有利になっていることは否定できないようだ。日本も石見銀山の例で、近藤大使の委員会への働きかけが国内外で批判の対象になった。

 Needless to say, such criticisms do not imply that some of the inscribed heritage sites in those influential countries have no value at all. However, if you bear such political implications in mind while visiting world heritages, you may see them in somewhat different perspectives.

 

もちろん、これら世界遺産登録件数の多い国の遺産に価値がないと言うのではない。旅行や観光で世界遺産を見学する際、このような政治的な背景があるということを頭の片隅に入れておくことで、また違った遺産の見方ができるのではないだろうか。

 

 

 It is self-evident that world heritages also have aspects of sightseeing brands. In fact, the governor of Shimane Prefecture where Iwami silver mine is located had initially hammered out his idea of having it registered as a world heritage by way of a trump card for reinvigorating the city of Oda that had no prominent industry after the closure of the mine in 1943. To be sure, the world heritage signage can arouse people's attention and contribute toward reactivating the regional economy through an increased number of tourists.

 

一方、世界遺産は観光ブランドとしての側面もある。前述の石見銀山の世界遺産構想もはじめは、これといった産業のない島根県大田市の地域復興の切り札として県知事が打ち出したものだった。世界遺産という看板を掲げることで、人びとの関心は高まり、観光客増加が地域経済の活性化に貢献している。

 On the other hand, heritage sites registered for the purpose of preservation can be damaged and endangered by enhanced exposure to tourism. This has actually happened particularly at some natural heritage sites. There is also another negative impact as seen in the case of Japan's Shirakawa-go and Gokayama, famous for its traditional gassho-style farmhouses, which was put on the heritage list in 1995. Villagers there are often annoyed by tourists who rudely poke around to look into their daily life obviously by perverting the public nature of the site assured by the UNESCO inscription. There seem to be quite a few cases where the balance needs to be struck between the effect of world heritage registration on regional revitalization and a horde of problems it can bring with it.

 

 半面で、保全対象として世界遺産になったのに、観光客の増加で遺産が破壊されるような例も自然遺産を中心に多くある。さらに、1995年に世界遺産登録された日本の白川郷・五箇山合掌造り集落では、住民の日常生活を観光客が無遠慮に覗きこむような公共性を曲解した例もある。世界遺産による地域活性化とそれによって生じる問題解決のバランスが取れていないことは少なからずあるようだ。

 

 

(Written By : Kento Isogai)

 

 

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