Latest news with #CouncilforCulturalAffairs
The Mainichi
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Mainichi
Osaka Gov. wants 1970 Osaka Expo symbol Tower of the Sun listed as World Heritage
OSAKA -- Japan's Council for Cultural Affairs on May 16 recommended to the education and culture minister that the Tower of the Sun, a symbol of the 1970 Osaka Expo that embodied the design of famed artist Taro Okamoto, be designated an important cultural property. The approximately 70-meter-tall tower, located in the Osaka Prefecture city of Suita, combines ferroconcrete and steel-frame structures, with scholars and architects infusing the cutting-edge technology of the time. Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura told reporters on May 16 about the anticipated designation, "It is of great significance that the Tower of the Sun, a symbol of the Osaka Expo in 1970, will be designated an important cultural property. We'd like to aim for the tower to be listed as a World Heritage site next." While the Tower of the Sun had initially been scheduled to be dismantled after the Expo, formally the Japan World Exposition, Osaka, 1970, requests from local residents and others led to a decision to preserve the monument. Following seismic reinforcement work, the Osaka Prefectural Government has opened the tower's inside to the public since 2018. The prefecture began academic surveys by experts in 2021 with the aim of having the tower designated an important cultural asset. Regarding the ongoing Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Yoshimura remarked, "I was reminded once again that we are carrying out a project of extreme significance." As discussions are underway regarding the preservation and utilization of the Grand Ring, a symbol of the current Expo, after the event, the governor enthused, "The Tower of the Sun, which had been slated to be taken down, is now set to be designated an important cultural property. The Grand Ring has also been appreciated by many people as an amazing piece of architecture. I'd like to pursue the possibility of preserving part of it in its current form." Hiroyuki Ishige, secretary-general of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, released a comment on May 16 regarding the likely designation, stating, "It will be an event that symbolizes the (1970) Osaka Expo, which still lives on in the memory of so many people, and I think it's wonderful." The Tower of the Sun was designated a national registered tangible cultural property in 2020. In recommending the tower to the culture minister for the designation, the Council for Cultural Affairs highly rated the structure, stating, "It is valuable as a legacy symbolizing Japan in its high economic growth period" that spanned from the mid-1950s through the early 1970s.
Japan Times
18-05-2025
- General
- Japan Times
Lake Biwa canal facilities recommended for national treasure designation
A government panel has proposed that some Lake Biwa canal facilities in western Japan be collectively designated as a national treasure. Five of the canal facilities, which were built to help carry water from Japan's largest freshwater lake located in Shiga Prefecture to the city of Kyoto, were recommended Friday by the Council for Cultural Affairs to become a new addition to Japan's list of national treasures. The five include the Suirokaku Aqueduct built within the grounds of Nanzenji Temple in the city of Kyoto. The panel also recommended that the former main building of the Keage hydroelectric power plant and 18 other Lake Biwa canal-related sites be collectively added to Japan's list of important cultural properties. Incorporating the most advanced civil engineering technology during the mid-Meiji period in Japan, the Lake Biwa canal facilities not only played key roles in water infrastructure and power generation, but also in irrigation and waterway transportation. The council also proposed designating the Tower of the Sun in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, which was the symbol of the 1970 World Exposition in Osaka, and six other sites as important cultural properties. The tower, designed by the late artist Taro Okamoto, was part of a pavilion on the event's theme of "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." Featuring state-of-the-art technologies of the time to bring Okamoto's design to life, the tower is now considered a key legacy of the 1970 Expo that symbolized Japan during a period of high economic growth. The designations are expected to be approved soon, taking the total number of sites on the important cultural property list to 2,597, including 233 national treasures.
Yomiuri Shimbun
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Tower of the Sun Named Important Cultural Property; Icon of Osaka Expo 1970 Symbolizes Japanese Postwar Economic Boom
The Yomiuri Shimbun The Tower of the Sun is seen in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, on Friday. The Council for Cultural Affairs on Friday recommended to the education, culture, sports, science and technology minister that the Tower of the Sun, a symbol of the 1970 World Exposition designed by artist Taro Okamoto and located in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, be designated an Important Cultural Property in the building category. With Osaka now hosting another World Expo, 55 years after the one for which the Tower was constructed, the structure has been recognized as a valuable legacy representing Japan's era of rapid economic growth. Under the leadership of Okamoto, the Tower of the Sun was erected as the centerpiece of the Expo's Theme Pavilion. In response to the Expo's slogan, 'Progress and Harmony for Mankind,' producer Okamoto deliberately conceived the tower as an anti-modern symbol reminiscent of an ancient Jomon clay figurine. The Tower left a powerful impression on visitors and became a public favorite. The construction of the Tower's enormous and distinctive form, 70 meters tall, brought together some of the most advanced techniques of the time. Mathematical analysis was applied to shape the trunk's complex three-dimensional curves, and the 25-meter-long arms, whose interiors have spaces visitors can enter, were engineered to a strength that would be challenging to achieve even with today's technology. Although the tower was slated for demolition once the Expo closed, petition drives and other opposition efforts secured its preservation. After seismic retrofitting, the interior was opened to the public in 2018 for the first time since the Expo. It will become Japan's second-newest Important Cultural Property in the building category, after the Seto Inland Sea Folk History Museum in Takamatsu, which was completed in 1973. Prof. Osamu Goto of Kogakuin University, a specialist in Japanese architectural history, said: 'Few cultural properties allow so many people to look back on history with a shared awareness. This is an unusual structure with multifaceted value, and it could one day be designated an Important Cultural Property in the fine arts category as well.'
16-05-2025
- General
Lake Biwa Canal Facilities Recommended for National Treasure
News from Japan Society Culture May 16, 2025 20:15 (JST) Tokyo, May 16 (Jiji Press)--A Japanese government panel proposed Friday that some Lake Biwa canal facilities in western Japan be collectively designated as a national treasure. Five of the canal facilities, which were built to help carry water from Japan's largest freshwater lake located in the western prefecture of Shiga to the city of Kyoto in the neighboring prefecture of Kyoto, were recommended by the Council for Cultural Affairs to become a new addition to Japan's list of national treasures. The five include the Suirokaku Aqueduct built within the grounds of Nanzenji Temple in the city of Kyoto. The panel also recommended that the former main building of the Keage hydroelectric power plant and 18 other Lake Biwa canal-related sites be collectively added to Japan's list of important cultural properties. Incorporating the most advanced civil engineering technology during the mid-Meiji period in Japan, the Lake Biwa canal facilities not only played key roles in water infrastructure and power generation, but also in irrigation and waterway transportation. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
