- 2023.9.14
- The World Natural Heritage in Japan website has been updated. Pages for individual areas will be updated gradually going forward.
About
The first two World Natural Heritage sites in Japan were registered in 1993. They were the remote “Yakushima” island in Kagoshima Prefecture and “Shirakami Sanchi,” a vast, primal beech forest that spans Aomori and Akita Prefectures. The Shiretoko peninsula, which protrudes into the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeastern part of Hokkaido, was registered in 2005, and the Ogasawara Islands, oceanic islands about 1,000 km away from central Tokyo, were registered in 2011. Most recently, the area consisting of Amami-Oshima Island, Tokunoshima Island, Northern part of Okinawa Island, and Iriomote Island were registered in 2021, for a total of five World Natural Heritage sites in Japan. Japan’s natural heritage is a place where all of its rich and unique ecosystems are valued and you can feel the circle of life, including rare plants and animals.
Video
Pick Up
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Renewal #1: Shirakami-Sanchi page updated. It suggests how to explore the area for a day or throughout the year and also introduces its geography.
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Renewal #2: Shiretoko area to be updated in November. Ogasawara Islands, Yakushima, and Amami・Okinawa will follow respectively.
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