TOKYO - The Japanese council for cultural affairs on Thursday selected Hikone Castle, a national treasure, as a candidate for nomination for the 2028 UNESCO World Heritage List.
The government plans to submit to the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization by Feb. 1 next year the nomination dossier for the castle, constructed by the Ii clan in the 17th century near Lake Biwa in modern-day Shiga Prefecture, western Japan.
"(The castle) is tangible evidence of a daimyo governance system unparalleled overseas, and it has been well conserved through protective measures," the council said.
The castle is one of the best-preserved in Japan, including its defensive sections and the lord's residential area, and represents the political system of the Edo Period (1603-1868), in which feudal lords called "daimyo" governed in consultation with senior vassals, according to the government.
Hikone Castle was added to the tentative list for future nomination in 1992, but the process stalled after Himeji Castle in Hyogo Prefecture was listed as a World Heritage site the following year.
Hikone Castle struggled to distinguish itself from Himeji Castle, prompting the prefectural government and the city of Hikone to submit a revised nomination draft to the Cultural Affairs Agency in May with additional explanations of its value and distinctive features.
If the process proceeds smoothly, the World Heritage Committee will examine the castle's nomination and decide whether to inscribe it on the World Heritage List in the summer of 2028, according to UNESCO.
The castle, built on the orders of Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, escaped demolition after the Meiji Restoration when Emperor Meiji, who visited Hikone in 1878, ordered its preservation.
