8 Japanese sites bagong UNESCO World Heritage

            Sacred Island ng Okinoshima at Associated Sites
sa  Munakata Region ( Kuha mula sa World Heritage Promotion Committee)

 Binigyan ng United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage status ang walong sites sa southwestern Japan kamakailan.

Nagdesisyon ang UNESCO sa Krakow, Poland na italaga ang isla ng Okinoshima at kalapit na tatlong reefs at apat na iba pang sites sa Fukuoka Prefecture na isama ito sa listahan.

Inirekomenda ng pamahalaang Hapon sa U.N. cultural agency na mapasama ang isla ng Okinoshima at pito pang sites bilang “Sacred Island of Okinoshima and Associated Sites in the Munakata Region” sa listahan.

“Located 60 km off the western coast of Kyushu island, the island of Okinoshima is an exceptional example of the tradition of worship of a sacred island. The archaeological sites that have been preserved on the Island are virtually intact, and provide a chronological record of how the rituals performed there changed from the 4th to the 9th centuries CE.

“In these rituals, votive objects were deposited as offerings at different sites on the Island. Many of them are of exquisite workmanship and had been brought from overseas, providing evidence of intense exchanges between the Japanese archipelago, the Korean Peninsula and the Asian continent. Integrated within the Grand Shrine of Munakata, the island of Okinoshima is considered sacred to this day,” saad sa pahayag ng UNESCO.

Magugunitang hindi sinang-ayunan ng UNESCO ang payo ng International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) na huwag isama ang apat na sites na kinabibilangan ng ancient tombs sa northern tip ng Kyushu at dalawang Munakata Taisha Shrine pavilions, at sa halip ay sumang-ayon sa rekomendasyon ng Japan.

Itinalaga naman bilang national treasures ang humigit-kumulang sa 80,000 items na natagpuan dito.

Sa kasalukuyan ay mayroon ng 21 sites ang Japan sa UNESCO World Heritage list kabilang ang Okinoshima.