UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Japan

The UNESCO World Heritage Sites are landmarks or areas that have been chosen by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance among others.

The basic criteria is that they are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity".

In Japan, there are 25 of these sites.
It is interesting to note that the Japanese government considers a site being accepted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as great honor for the nation, so there is a very active campaign to continually get more sites reviewed and accepted.

In order of acceptance dates they are:-

1. The Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area in Nara prefecture
2. Himeji-jo in Hyogo prefecture
3. Yakushima in Kagoshima prefecture
4. Shirakami-Sanchi in Aomori prefecture
5. Ancient Kyoto in Kyoto prefecture
6. Villages of Shirakawa-go in Gifu prefecture
7. The Peace Memorial in Hiroshima prefecture
8. Itsukushima Shinto Shrine in Hiroshima prefecture
9. Ancient Nara in Nara prefecture
10. Nikko Shrine in Tochigi prefecture
11. Gusuku Sitesin Okinawa prefecture
12. Kii Mountain Range Pilgrimage SItes in Mie, Nara and Wakayama prefectures
13. Shiretoko National Park in Hokkaido prefecture
14. Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine in Shimane prefecture
15. Ogasawara Islands in Tokyo
16. Hiraizumi Temples in Iwate prefecture
17. Mount Fuji in Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures
18. The Tomioka Silk Mill in Gunma prefecture
19. Sites of the Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining of the Industrial Revolution in Iwate, Shizuoka, Yamaguchi, Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Saga, Nagasaki and Kagoshima prefectures
20. The National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo
21. Okinoshima Island in Fukuoka prefecture
22. Hidden Christian Sites in Nagasaki prefecture
23. Mozu-Furuichi Mounded Tombs in Osaka prefecture
24. Amami-Oshima Island group in Kagoshima and Okinawa prefecture
25. Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Hokkaido, Aomori, Iwate and Akita prefectures

The first site was accepted by the UNESCO judges in 1993 and the latest one in 2021.

If you are interested in Japanese architecture, then the shrines in Nikko, and Himeji castle are standouts.
The intricacies of the woodwork and ancient Japanese carpentry techniques are on full display.

The most popular sites for tourists are ancient Kyoto and Nara.
These two cities are teeming with places to visit and wonderful photography opportunities.

For those of you interested in more adventurous nature hikes, then nothing beats the climb up Mount Fuji and the Yakushima hiking tours.
These are sometimes crowded and are not available all year.

For travelers to Japan, these sites are a good guide to places to visit to make your trip memorable.