What Is Japan Heritage?
Established by the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 2015, Japan Heritage is a national certification program that identifies regional cultural assets—both tangible and intangible—and organizes them into narratives. These stories serve to drive locally led revitalization and promote regional culture to both domestic and international audiences.
Unlike World Heritage inscriptions or cultural property designations, which focus on the value of individual sites and impose strict preservation regulations, Japan Heritage emphasizes active utilization. By looking at a region holistically, the system supports projects that leverage a community’s collective history and traditions to tell a unified story.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs has designated over 104 stories nationwide as Japan Heritage as of 2025, 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 Ancient Burial Mounds
Building
Tabi Storehouses
Folk cultural property
Gyoda Tabi Manufacturing Tools and Products
Cultural property??
Zeri furai (croquette)
Japan Heritage
Utilizing and promoting assets as “stories”
Gyoda—Japan’s Premier Tabi Town
The sound of sewing machines emanates from small factories and workshops, carrying through the backstreets of Gyoda, where craftspeople have produced tabi (split-toe socks) for some 300 years. Tabi are standard when wearing kimono. Lining these streets are tabi storehouses built of earth, stone, and mortar, many of which date back to the late Meiji period (1868–1912). What began as a side craft for the wives of samurai eventually grew into a massive local industry; at its peak, Gyoda supplied approximately 80% of Japan’s tabi. Today, the city remains a leading tabi producer, with its wealth of historic storehouses and buildings preserving an authentic townscape rooted in tradition.