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| Geographical location | |
City of Iwasaki Lat. 40° 35'N
Long. 139° 55'E
Access from Tokyo
1 1/6 hours by air to Aomori
from Aomori
about 4 hours by train
from Akita
about 3 hours by train
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The
village of Iwasaki, Aomori Prefecture, at the foot of the beautiful Shirakami
Mountains was the site of a Junior World Heritage Summit from September 11 to
14, 1998. Thirty-one children living near natural or cultural World Heritage
properties. Japan gathered to consider approaches to preserving the lasting
monuments of our planet for future generations.
The Shirakami Mountains
belong to the list of protected cultural and natural landmarks under the World
Heritage Convention, adopted in 1972 at a meeting of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The unspoiled beech forests
of this mountainous district along the border of Aomori and Akita Prefectures
in northern Japan was registered as a natural World Heritage site in 1993.
There
are eight World Heritage sites in Japan: six of them cultural and two natural.
At the conference, children described how they were helping preserve the heritage
sites near their homes, offered ideas about what should be done in the future,
and exchanged views on how the natural environment of our planet should be preserved.
Among those attending
the conference were students of the Jonan Elementary School near Himeji
Castle; Kinkaku Elementary School in Kyoto;
Shirakawa Middle School in the village of Shirakawa, adjacent to the historic
villages of Shirakawa-go
and Gokayama; Honkawa Elementary School near the Hiroshima
Peace Memorial (Atomic-Bomb Dome); Miyajima Elementary School in Miyajima,
the site of the Itsukushima
Shinto Shrine; Kamiyama Elementary School on the southern island of Yakushima;
and two local elementary schools--Iwasaki and Iwasaki Minami--near the Shirakami
Mountains.
The
highlight of the meeting was a symposium held at Iwasaki Minami Elementary School
on day three. Schoolchildren spent their summer holidays preparing for their
presentations at the symposium, visiting their nearby natural and cultural monuments
and reading about the heritage properties at libraries.
"The more I learned
about what makes Himeji Castle a lasting heritage for all of humankind, the
more impressed I became," explained six-grader Kazushige Ishikawa of Himeji.
"I want as many people as possible to know about how special the castle
really is."
Students
from Yakushima said they created posters and leaflets asking visitors not to
spoil the natural beauty of the island's forests by littering or leaving the
hiking trails and trampling on rare plants. The posters have been displayed
at the local airport, and leaflets have been handed out to tourists.
A Hiroshima participant
said he didn't think the symbol of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial by itself was
enough to end the suffering and tragedy of warfare. He encouraged everyone to
study more about war and to think about what armed conflict was all about.
Ryoji
Shimizu, who hails from the village of Shirakawa, explained the special features
of gassho-zukuri farmhouses in the Shirakawa-go and Gokayama districts
and said that he hoped to learn more about the unique architectural style of
these cultural monuments.
The symposium came to
a close with the reading of the Junior World Heritage Declaration, which said
that the participants took pride in living together with the world's heritage
in their midst and would carefully guard the natural and cultural legacies of
our planet.
A number of events were
organized to promote friendship among conference participants. One of the most
memorable was climbing the 1,232-meter (4,042-foot) Mt. Shirakami on the second
day. The party began its climb up the steep mountain at 7:30 in the morning and
reached the summit around four hours later. Many participants were enthralled
by the view of the beautiful beech forest from the peak.
"Shirakami
is renowned for its large and abundant beeches, and now I see why," said
Shintaro Haruyama, a fifth grader who came from Yakushima, which is also famous
for a type of tree: giant cedars, some of which are among the oldest trees on
Earth.
Reina
Maeda, a sixth grader from Kyoto, was deeply impressed, saying, "The temples
of Kyoto are very important, but the natural beauty of Shirakami is also very
precious."
For participants from
outside the Shirakami district, the four-day conference was a rare experience
that allowed them to see a heritage site besides the ones they were familiar
with. They also took home many fond memories and forged deep friendships with
students from other parts of the country.
"The
friends I made here will remain with me for the rest of my life as my personal
'heritage,'" wrote six grader Yuki Sakamoto of Miyajima in an essay. "I
hope we can all work together to protect the natural and cultural properties
and prevent the destruction of our natural environment."
Himeji's
Kazushige Ishikawa noted that the conference opened his mind, deepening his
appreciation of people's love for local landmarks and teaching him many things
about perseverance, courage, and friendship.
Participants said they
would all love to see the conference held again in the future.
