What Is Japan Heritage?
Japan Heritage is a national certification program established by the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 2015. It identifies regional cultural assets across Japan—both tangible and intangible—and organizes them into narratives to support locally led revitalization and promote these stories domestically and internationally.
While World Heritage inscriptions or cultural property designations focus on the value of individual sites or traditions and impose regulations to protect them, the Japan Heritage system does not. Instead, it supports regional revitalization projects that make use of those assets. It looks at a city or area holistically to tell a story that encompasses the collective history and traditions.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs has designated over 100 stories nationwide as Japan Heritage as of 2020, including Gyoda’s story.
The Difference Between Cultural Property Designations and Japan Heritage
Cultural Property Designations
Designating and preserving individual cultural properties as “assets”
Historical Site
Oshi Castle Ruins
Sakitama Burial Mounds
Building
Tabi Storehouses
Folk cultural property
Gyoda Tabi Manufacturing Tools and Products
Cultural property??
Zeri fry
Japan Heritage
Utilizing and Promoting Assets as a “Story”
Gyoda’s Japan Heritage Story
The sound of sewing machines emanates from small factories and workshops, carrying through the backstreets of Gyoda, where craftspeople continue to produce tabi (split-toe socks) as they have for around 300 years. Along these streets stand tabi storehouses built of earth, stone, and mortar, many of which date to the latter half of the Meiji period (1868–1912). The industry began as side work for the wives of samurai and later developed into a major local enterprise. At its peak, Gyoda produced about 80% of the country’s tabi. Although production has since declined, the city remains a leading center of tabi manufacturing, and its many historical buildings, including the storehouses, preserve this history.