Sendai Symposium
March 16, 2015
Multi-Purpose Hall, 5F, AER, Sendai City Information & Industr y Plaza
Sendai City, Miyagi, Japan

Contents
Opening Remarks

Johei Sasaki,
President, National Institutes for Cultural Heritage (NICH)

Keynote Presentation “Cultural Heritage and Disaster Risk Reduction”
Koichiro Matsuura, Former UNESCO Director-General
Panel Discussion

Facilitator:

Yuji Kurihara, Secretary General, National Task Force for
the Japanese Cultural Heritage Disaster Risk Mitigation Network,
NICH

Panelists: (in alphabetical order)
Masanori Aoyagi, Commissioner, Agency for Cultural Affairs (ACA)
Giovanni Boccardi, Chief of Emergency Preparedness and Response,
Culture Sector, UNESCO
Stefano De Caro, Director-General, ICCROM
Koichiro Matsuura, Former UNESCO Director-General
Kenzo Toki, Professor, Ritsumeikan University
Closing Remarks

Takamasa Saito, Councillor for Cultural Properties, ACA

Essential points of the presentation “A Global Perspective on Cultural Heritage and Disaster Resilient Communities” by
Joseph King, ICCROM, are incorporated in the “Recommendations of the International Expert Meeting on Cultural Heritage and Disaster Resilient Communities (14 March, Tokyo, Japan)” in the Appendices at the back of this book.
Essential points of the presentation “A Japanese Perspective on Cultural Heritage and Disaster Resilient Communities” by
Yuji Kurihara, NICH, are incorporated in the “Future Prospects” of the Tokyo Symposium.

Sendai Symposium

Opening Remarks
Johei Sasaki
President, National Institutes for Cultural Heritage (NICH)

I would like to take the opportunity to say a few
words to open this symposium.
I first express my deepest condolences to those
who lost their lives in the 2011 Great East Japan
Earthquake, and extend my heartfelt sympathy toaffected people, including those who remain living
in temporary housings even till this day.
I am pleased to see the presence of so many participants here today. It is particularly moving to beable to hold this Symposium in Sendai – one of thecities struck by the earthquakei – four years after
the devastating disaster.
The UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) is a major United Nations forum
where discussions are held on a global scale in respect to various disaster risk reduction topics. The
first WCDRR was held in 1994 in Yokohama and thesecond in 2005 in Kobe. Now, the third WCDRR istaking place in Sendai to develop a DRR framework
beyond 2015, which will follow the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005 – 2015 adopted at the second
conference.
In preparation for this symposium, we held astrategy meeting in Tokyo a few days ago to discussin depth disaster preparedness of movable and immovable as well as tangible and intangible cultural
heritage, for each of the stages of before, during,
and after disasters. The meeting emphasized theneed for policies and frameworks aimed for the
next fifteen years to reflect the significance of cultural heritage disaster risk reduction, as various
types of cultural heritage have proved to play an important role in reviving local communities after disasters.
Todayʼs Symposium is held in order to share theoutcomes of these discussions with a wider public.
It is a part of the International Expert Meeting within the framework of the Third WCDRR, organizedby the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan (ACA),UNESCO, ICCROM, and NICH, with generous support from ICOM and ICOMOS. Following my opening remarks, the former UNESCO Director-General Mr. Koichiro Matsumura will deliver a keynote
speech to address cultural heritage and disaster re− 237 −silient communities. We will then have Mr. Joseph
King, the Director of Sites Unit at ICCROM to provide an international perspective on heritage DRR,
followed by Mr. Yuji Kurihara from NICH who will
share a Japanese outlook on the issue. Finally, there
will be a panel discussion joined by Mr. Masanori
Aoyagi, the ACA Commissioner; Mr. Giovanni Boccardi, the Chief of Unit at Asia and the Pacific Section of the UNESCO World Heritage Center; Dr.
Stefano De Caro, ICCROM Director-General; aswell as Prof. Kenzo Toki from Ritsumeikan University.
Todayʼs symposium will be a very significant opportunity for Japan to present our progress on postdisaster recovery, and to make an international contribution through sharing with the world ourexperience and knowledge on heritage DRR. It willserve as an opportunity to enhance awareness for
mitigating risks and preserving the cultural heritage of humanity.
In concluding my remarks, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the people whose efforts have made this symposium possible.
Thank you.

Sendai Symposium

Keynote Presentation
Cultural Heritage and Disaster Risk Reduction
Koichiro Matsuura
Former UNESCO Director-General

1. Introduction
The second session of the UN World Conference on
Disaster Risk Reduction was held 10 years ago in
January 2005 in Kobe. It was 10 years after the
Kobe earthquake, and I then participated as Secretary-General of UNESCO. Although in Japan
UNESCO is mainly known as the international organization with a focus on culture in charge of world
heritage and intangible cultural heritage, UNESCO
is also responsible for education, natural science,social science and communication. As part of the
field of natural sciences, UNESCO also deals withnatural disasters, and it was mainly for this reason
that I participated.
2. Cultural Heritage and Disasters – Natural
Disasters and Man-made Disasters
As you will remember, in December 2004, a large
earthquake occurred in the Indian Ocean causing atsunami, and more than 200,000 people lost theirlives. Compared to the Tohoku earthquake causing
20,000 deaths, the great tsunami in the Indian
Ocean left more than 10 times the number of people
dead or missing, finally totaling around 220,000
people - an enormous human cost. The biggest reason for this huge loss was that there were no proper
warning devices.
It was in the wake of the 1960 earthquake inChile that UNESCO introduced tsunami warning
devices in the Pacific Ocean in 1965. I became Director-General of UNESCO in 1999 and alreadythen experts were warning that a major earthquake
and tsunami may occur in the Indian Ocean anytime. And when a large earthquake and tsunami did
actually hit the area in 2004, more than 200,000 people lost their lives.
This United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction is exclusively focused on natural
disasters and in terms of human lives, of course,
protection from natural disasters is the most important.
The strategic meeting in Tokyo was concernedwith immovable and movable cultural properties.
The most apparent examples of the immovable cul-tural heritage, speaking of the Japanese context
would be shrines, temples and castles. Fortunately,
the tsunami did not reach the Golden Hall of Chusonji of the World Heritage site Hiraizumi, andearthquake damage was minor. It is important totake firm measures against natural disasters, but
protection from man-made disaster measures are
just as important. To say more specifically, thesedisasters include war, civil war, civil unrest, and intentional destruction. Damages from these disasters are often much larger.
There was a report from UNESCO stating that
the Islamic State (IS) has been intentionally destroying ruins of the Assyrian civilization.
Then, from the chargé d'affaires of the Embassyof Japan in Syria, Northern Syria was reported to beexperiencing similar conditions. World Heritage
sites in Africa are most seriously endangered byman-made disasters. I have mentioned that there
were two categories in man-made disasters: war or
civil war, and human destruction. In the case of the
Middle East, the latter is the problem, but in Africa
it is the former – war and civil war.
So, we should think about cultural heritage, interms of the basic theme of the United Nations
World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, thatis natural disasters, but we also need to think seriously about the measures against the man-madedisasters. This was pointed out very clearly yesterday, and I could not agree more. Actually, UNESCO
also has the same vision.
3. UNESCO and Japan
As you know UNESCO was founded on November
16, 1945, at the London meeting, immediately after
the end of the Second World War, when the
UNESCO Charter was adopted. This day is marked
as the day of foundation, and UNESCO will celebrate its 70th anniversary this year. Because theUnited Nations was established the same year in
September, it is also the 70th anniversary of theUnited Nations.
Today, UNESCO is an international organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, but− 238 −

Sendai Symposium

at that time, the combined United Nations and
UNESCO were promoted by the intellectuals of theAllies. The United Nations was to focus on “hardpower,” especially in the political and military fields,
and UNESCO on “soft power.” UNESCO was established subsequently with a constitution that states"since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in theminds of men that the defenses of peace must be
constructed.” This is the so-called UNESCO Constitution. In response to this, a group of intellectualsfrom various countries including in Japan, startingwith Dr. Hideki Yukawa, who was awarded the firstNobel Prize in Physics, started a civilian UNESCO
movement, and in response to this public movement, the first UNESCO Association, not just in Japan but in the world, was founded. It was here in
Sendai that this organization was established in July
1947. Then, it spread nationwide, and now there areabout 300 UNESCO Associations in Japan. The
most active public movements of UNESCO in theworld can be seen here in Japan.
When I was UNESCO Director-General thismade me very proud, because it was even before
Japan acceded to the United Nations in 1951. In fact,
the first international institution that Japan joined
was UNESCO. The peace treaty was negotiated in
San Francisco in September 1951 and entered into
force in April 1952. But UNESCO gave a big welcome to Japan as early as July of 1951. Japan wanted
to join the United Nations, but, unfortunately, Japan-Soviet relations were not normalized, and theSoviet Union was on the Security Council, so because of their veto, this was not realized until 1956.
In UNESCO, there was no system for country to
exercise a veto right, they welcomed us unanimously.
4. 
Destruction of Cultural Properties byArmed Conflict
The Hague Treaty was established as one of
UNESCO’s treaties in 1954. This was aimed at theprotection of cultural properties against man-madedisasters, especially war, civil war and civil unrest.
The term cultural property was still used then. Under this treaty, leaders that do not respect its protection during armed conflict can be accused of war
crimes. Actually, in the 1990s, civil war broke out
alongside the breakup of Yugoslavia. In that process, designated cultural properties were intentionally destroyed. Accusations of war crimes are now
being made through this strict treaty in which neglect of cultural properties can be taken as a crime.
− 239 −In 1954, after the Second World War, UNESCO put
the most effort into establishing this treaty.
As for Japan, we did not actively participate in
the negotiations, but we voted in agreement. But,
unfortunately, it was not ratified for a long time. After I became the Director-General and lobbied theJapanese government at the time, Japan was finallyratified.
I remember clearly that during the Second Gulf
War, I was the Director-General of UNESCO, at thetime when the Saddam Hussein regime was overthrown, and I was contacted by the US Departmentof State confidentially. Because Iraq had already
ratified the Hague Convention, they asked us toprovide a list Iraqʼs cultural properties. We thoroughly informed the US military and sent out anorder that cultural properties must not be attacked
and in fact, the United States compiled. In the riotsat the end, as we all know, there was the unfortunate incident of the Museum of Baghdad being
plundered, not by the US military, but by the local
people, and a series of cultural properties were destroyed. However, the various militaries, including
the US military, firmly protected them. In Africa,
there are still many countries that have not yet ratified the Hague Convention, so it is important thatthey ratify the Convention and thoroughly communicate with in their countries.
5. Human-Induced Damage to Cultural
Heritage Properties
Similarly, in Japan during World War II (this is ofcourse before UNESCO and the Hague Convention), Kyoto and Nara are said to have been sparedfrom bombing by the consideration of the UnitedStates. Though, of course, many other cities were
badly destroyed, Kyoto and Nara, due to a unilateralblockade by the United States, escaped the bombing. So, it is clear that such considerations are important at the time of war.
The other thing is artificial destruction, which isthe same, or even worse. As I mentioned earlier,various measures have been taken by the Security
Council of the United Nations, concerning the destructions by the Islamic State, but to be honest, I
donʼt think it will have any effect. Rather, we mustovercome IS, so the measures beyond the realm ofprotection of cultural property are needed.

Sendai Symposium

When I saw this incident on TV, I recalled theexample of Afghanistan, which I struggled verymuch with during my time as UNESCO DirectorGeneral. I think you all remember that the Taliban
regime destroyed the two great Buddha statues of
Bamiyan. The Taliban wanted to destroy the idols
because in the Qurʼan, the sacred book of Muslims,
idolatry is prohibited. This was their argument forthe destruction.
However, the Taliban regime has existed for along time together with the two Buddhas of Bamiyan, as well as the sculptures in the Kabul Museumin Afghanistan. If they were to have actually followed the Qurʼan, these cultural properties would
have been lost much earlier. The action that I took
was to hold a meeting in Doha collaborating with
Arab religious leaders, Islamic leaders and the Qatar Government. At that time, we adopted a declaration of religious leaders saying that protecting cultural heritage of humanityʼs past does not violate
the teachings of the Qurʼan, and this was delivered
to the Taliban regime. But unfortunately, this was at
almost the same time that the two Great Buddhas
were destroyed. So I struggled very much for two
weeks, but, unfortunately, with no result. The Islamic leaders went as far as adopting a resolution in
Doha to state that the protection of cultural properties do not violate the Qurʼan, so I think that thedestruction was done intentionally only in order tomake the world take notice of them.
In any case, how to protect cultural heritage
from armed conflict such as war and human destruction, is a very important theme. After theHague Convention in 1954, there were increased
interests in the protection of immovable culturalproperties in the 1960s. UNESCO used its power toprotect the immovable cultural heritage since the1960s, followed by a treaty banning the illegal international trade of cultural properties in 1970. This
finally led to the 1972 treaty on the Protection of theWorld Cultural and Natural Heritage.
This 1970 treaty was adopted in response to theoverseas trafficking by individuals of Buddha images that happened before the large events we see
now, such as in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime. In contrast to that, with trafficking, an individual removes the Buddha statue from its site, tobe first bought by an art dealer and then sold to individuals. This type of international trade is forbidden, and if the involvement of another country is
discovered, there is an obligation to return the artifacts to the country of origin. But to repeat again,

this is no countermeasure for the deliberate destructions by the Taliban and IS.
Dr. Ikuo Hirayama, the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador who sadly passed away, bought up from
Kabul Museum more than 100 extremely impressive artifacts, which are now kept at the Tokyo University of the Arts. He said he was ready to returnthem at any time if a proper location was established in Kabul.
6. Natural Disasters
Next, I would like to mention natural disasters including earthquakes, tsunami, volcanic eruptions,floods, landslides, typhoons and hurricanes In
terms of how to cope with such natural disasters,
we must think about how to respond to them, by allmeans saving human lives. In terms of life-saving,
today’s theme of cultural heritage has been widened, which I am very pleased about.
In Japan, the 1950 Act on Protection of Cultural
Properties is an admirable law that covers not only
tangible cultural properties, but also intangible cultural properties. Intangible cultural heritage is at
the roots of the local community, passed on fromperson to person, and this is something I focusedon greatly, bringing it to a Treaty of 2003. The 2003
Treaty covers various regional festivals, traditions
and rituals. All this is passed from person to person,
so the saving intangible cultural heritage is linked
to life saving. I think this is a very important point.
Another important thing is that multiple natural
disasters can occur at the same time and fire prevention is a very important topic. Later Dr. Toki will
elaborate on this matter. Fire is not only caused bynatural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanic
eruptions but also can be the result of war, manmade acts or mismanagement by individuals, and it
is important that we are vigilant against fires.
7. Fostering Human Resources
So, in the case of disasters, speaking about cultural
heritage, I think that proactive countermeasuresare very important. It is also the same for life-saving.
In that sense, I was very pleased when the “AbeInitiative” was announced recently in which, according to a summary in a newspaper report, 40,000
people will be educated. I hope that the field of cultural heritage is also included in this human resource development. I think it is very importantthat in each country and region disaster prevention
experts are fully educated, so that they can go back− 240 −

Sendai Symposium

to their communities as leaders and train local people in disaster prevention measures.
Then, there is crisis management following a disaster. Japan is, unfortunately, a country that suffersfrom various natural disasters, perhaps, the most in
the world, and I believe that our disaster prevention
measures are the most reliable. Even in this mostwell prepared country, crisis management at thetime of the Great East Japan Earthquake four years
ago revealed numerous problems and I feel it mostnecessary to have these defects altered.
8. International Cooperation for Disaster Recover y
In any case, Japan is a global leading country interms of disaster management particularly regarding natural disasters. Therefore, I think the education of 40,000 people under the “Abe Initiative” isvery important, and although, of course, top priority on human life should be emphasized, I hope thatthe field of cultural heritage protection is also included. Crisis management is essential in saving
cultural heritage, as for saving lives. Another important factor in cultural heritage is post-disaster repair
and restoration and I would like to promote international cooperation in this area by all means.
So, speaking in terms of international coopera-− 241 −

tion, there is the World Heritage Fund, which supports developing countries in particular. But because the World Heritage Fund is very limited, I
think that we must rely on developed countries that
can afford to help through voluntary contributions,or through bilateral support. In terms of post-disaster repair and restoration of cultural heritage, I
think the international community, including Japan,
must make greater efforts.
However, returning to the previous example of
Bamiyan, I led an international consortium in theyear following the Bamiyanʼs destruction and provided post-disaster support. While the treatment of
the damaged Big Buddhas is of course an important issue, there are other artifacts that need to berestored. Cambodiaʼs Angkor Wat was the first cultural property to be the subject of international cooperation for the repair work. I am very pleased
that it was removed from the List of World Heritage
in Danger. Although we have no idea as to when thecivil wars in Syria and Iraq would end, I wish for thenumerous cultural heritage properties to be to belisted in as World Heritage in Danger. I hope thatthe civil wars will end as soon, so that repairs can becommenced, and I hope that there will be active international cooperation then.
Thank you very much.

Sendai Symposium

Opening Remarks by Johei Sasaki, President of NICH (Photo by
NICH)

Keynote Speech by Koichiro Matsuura, former UNESCO DG(Photo by Randolph Langenbach)Presentation by Joseph King, Director of the Site Unit, ICCROM(Photo by Randolph Langenbach)Presentation by Yuji Kurihara, Secretary General, National Task
Force for the Japanese Cultural Heritage Disaster Risk Mitigation
Network, NICH (Photo by Randolph Langenbach)− 242 −

Sendai Symposium

Panel Discussion
Facilitator
Yuji Kurihara
Panelists (in alphabetical order)
Masanori Aoyagi, Commissioner, Agency for Cultural Affairs (ACA)
Giovanni Boccardi, Chief, Emergency Preparedness and Response, Culture Sector, UNESCO
Stefano De Caro, Director-General, ICCROM
Koichiro Matsuura, Former UNESCO Director-General
Kenzo Toki, Professor, Ritsumeikan University
Yuji Kurihara:In this panel discussion, we have five panelists. For
the first, Iʼd like to ask Professor Kenzo Toki tocome to the stage. He is a professor at Ritsumeikan
University. This is the Third WCDRR and Professor
Toki has also attended the First and Second
WCDRR in Kobe and Yokohama.
Kenzo Toki:
I would like to focus on Kyoto today. Why Kyoto in
Sendai? You might think it is strange, but there is agood reason for that. And also, I will talk about thecityʼs past, present, and future.
I first became involved in cultural properties after the Kobe earthquake in 1995. My fields of specialization are earthquake engineering, structural
engineering and anti-seismic structures. I then hada chance to see aerial photographs taken from ahelicopter immediately after the earthquake. Although there was also a big fire, no National Treasure structures were burnt or lost to fire. This was
because there were no National Treasures in areas
where the fires occurred.
However, in Kyoto, there are many National
Treasure buildings dispersed over the entire city.
Should many fires occur simultaneously in central
Kyoto as in Kobe, they would all be lost. If we include Important Cultural Properties and Intangible
Cultural Properties, there are countless numbers ofcultural properties in the area. This idea scared me
and led me to become involved in fire protection of
the historic city.
In those days, most specialists in the field of fire
protection considered cultural properties to besomething they should stay away from and tried tokeep a distance.
For example, when the five-storied pagoda at
Muro-ji Temple In Nara was toppled by a typhoon,
people in the field of cultural properties did not reconsider disaster prevention, thinking this was only
a rare incident. It was then that I realized there was− 243 −

a deep gap between the areas of cultural heritage
protection and natural disasters, and strongly felt
the necessity of bridging this gap between experts
in natural disasters and cultural heritage. I started
all by myself and there was nobody in the beginning
to assist me.
At the beginning of my lecture, I mentioned that
I would be focusing only on Kyoto today. There is areason for this. Please compare the density of
National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties to the areaʼs population among ordinance-designated cities in Japan. In Kyoto, there is one cultural property per 1,000 persons. It is 13 times morethan the average of other cities, and that is why wehave to start with Kyoto. When a number is tenfold
the average, there would be no other way than tostart with this area, Kyoto, for starting businesses,
doing research or studying. I live in Kyoto and I
have for decades taught at a university in Kyoto, butthat is not the reason why I am focusing on Kyoto.
Objectively speaking, Kyoto is a place that no doubt
attracts attention.
Letʼs take a look at Kyoto City. This map of Kyoto
in 2010 depicts a very dense population in all corners of the Kyoto Basin. However, in 1890, in mid
Meiji era, there are a lot of fields and uncultivatedland. This is the age when our grandparents lived. It
is only in the last 120 years that Kyoto went througha drastic change, increasing dangers of loss of temples and shrines to earthquake-induced fires located on the perimeters of the Kyoto Basin.
For example, at Kōryū-ji Temple in the past, aslong as the temple itself did not become the sourceof fire, it was safe from disasters including earthquakes. However, today, there is fear of fire fromthe surrounding neighborhood spreading to thetemple, which is vary scary. People in Kyoto who
have lived in this city all their lives are not aware towhat extent the city has changed in merely 120
years. That is why I decided to think of ways forpeople to reconsider the history of Kyoto.

Sendai Symposium

When we think about the future, we have to lookat the past. I looked back upon the history of pastdisasters on the cultural heritage of Kyoto and created an animation of the cityʼs past 8oo years. Overthe ages, the population expanded to the east andnorth, with people settling in smaller places. Thus,
during the wartime Sengoku era, around 1500,
there were hardly any people living in the center ofthe city. There were numerous fires over the years
and these disasters were shown as well. It became
apparent that it was only in the last 100 years or sothat people started living in all areas of Kyoto. We
have to be aware of this history in order to foresee
the future.
In the past, in Kyoto, there were two times whenmany cultural heritage properties were lost. One
was at the time of a series of civil wars triggered byŌnin Civil War around 1270. It was not a natural disaster but a human-induced disaster. In the earlier
sessions, we heard from former UNESCO DirectorGeneral Mr. Koichiro Matsuura and Mr. Joseph
King of ICCROM that man-made disasters wereparticularly troublesome. If an earthquake occurred in the middle of a desert, there would be nodisaster. Disasters takes place where people live
and particularly when they live in cities. Disasters
occur because these cities are not made to be safe
against earthquakes.
In that sense, almost all disasters are man-madedisasters and earthquakes are not to be blamed.
Disasters occur because we are not fully prepared.
I am sure, without effective measures for preparing
for disasters, we will lose lots of cultural heritage forthe third time in history to earthquake-induced
fires in Kyoto. Today, the population is much larger
than ever, and therefore the scale of disasters would
no doubt be greater. I am an engineer. An engineer
is a person who makes structures and establish systems. Handing down such achievements to the following generations is the reason for our being.
Therefore, in order to be well-prepared, I have created a disaster prevention system together withmany specialists.
For example, in Kyoto, 3,000 tons of water are
stored in the area around Higashiyama. This
amount may be difficult to imagine. We built two
1,500-ton water tanks, equaling the volume of four
to five school swimming pools each, and they areconnected by seismic resistant polyethylene pipes.
On Higashi-Oji Boulevard, if a fire should occur, it
would travel at a great speed down the street as inan ascending kiln. The idea is to stop fires fromspreading utilizing this completed pipeline. Fees forthese facilities were burdened by Kyoto City and
the Kyoto Prefecture government. This was conducted as a case study by a national committee of
which I was chair. As. Mr. Joseph King has mentioned, such case studies were found to be very effective and when there are people who truly understand their implications, such systems can berealized.
This is an example which proved the importanceof preparing for future disasters. A water curtain
system for the five-storied pagoda at Yasaka Shrine
was installed for fire protection, in which by manually opening a valve, a water curtain will rise to surround the structure. Here, manual operation ismost reliable, rather than mechanical or electricaldevises. Thus, a system for protecting this cultural
heritage from the surrounding residential district
has already been established.
At my university, we have been involved in various disaster prevention activities and projects aswell. We are trying to link together natural disaster
professionals and cultural heritage professionals. It
seems that it is not only in Japan that there is a bigwall or “death valley” between the two. Nine years
ago in 2006, we started a training program under
the name of International Training Course on Cultural Heritage and Disaster Risk Reduction.
We have a limited budget, so we can accept only
a little more than ten trainees at a time; but the
number of applicants has been increasing every
year to 2014. From this, we see that when chances
are provided, people from all over the world become interested in taking part in this field. We
would like to increase the number of trainees; however, our financial resources are limited.
For three years from 2014, Toyota Foundation,
which is affiliated to Toyota Motors, is scheduled toprovide funding which will enable us to increase thenumbers of trainees for this period. We have applicants from almost all areas of the world except
North America.
So what are we going to do for the future? Are wedoing something for the future generations? If we
donʼt do anything for the future, we are just taking
privilege of the past. We have to do something forthe people living in Kyoto 100 or even 200 years
from now.
The program that was initiated four years ago
called Tomorrowʼs Kyoto Cultural Heritage Platform is headed by Mr. Matsuura, the former General Director of UNESCO. Other collaborators in− 244 −

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this platform include the Governor of Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City Mayor, university researchers,
members of the Rotary Club and Lions Club, businesspersons and the religious sector. They gladly
cooperated to make various programs possible. We
are also involved in projects to provide dreams to
the younger generation and future citizens. One ofthem is the reconstruction of the Rajomon Gate
which was originally constructed as the official gateof Heian-kyo. A precise model of the gate in 1/10
scale created more than ten years ago is exhibitedin front of Kyoto Station. Donations of 100 yen or
1,000 yen are asked for, for reconstructing the lostgate. Because this is a plan to reconstruct just byourselves the gate of the capital city from 1,200
years ago, it may take 30 years or even 50 years. Iʼdlike to stress that the aim of the project is not in rebuilding the gate for ourselves, but in the process of
rebuilding. We are interested in passing down tofuture generations the importance of sharing thebackgrounds of Kyoto as a historic city.
Yuji Kurihara:
I would now like to ask each of our panel speakers
for a brief comment. May I start with Mr. Aoyagi,
the Commissioner of Agency for Cultural Affairs for
a comment on the discussions heard in the past two
days?
Masanori Aoyagi:
In offering my input, I would like to commence bystating that I have learned a great deal today. In thefirst instance, I would like to comment on the issue
of “resilience,” which has been raised in both meetings, in Tokyo and here in Sendai.
As to the theoretical underpinnings of “resilience,” I believe this can be categorized into two
types, of horizontal resilience and vertical resilience. First, horizontal resilience represents something that is synchronic in nature and shares thesame space. Regarding cultural properties within
the same society, it is a matter of how close they areaffiliated with the economy, politics, or society itself. In other words, it is about considering how well
the cultural properties are integrated into the various social factors surrounding them without being
treated as something special.
On the other hand, there is vertical resilience,
which is diachronic in nature and can be regarded
as the time axis. It involves the act of considering
how at each point in time cultural properties are valued and utilized socially, which in turn would have
− 245 −

effects of reinforcing resilience of the society.
Furthermore, with respect to these vertical andhorizontal resilience constructs, I believe that if thetwo can be organically integrated, then a genuine
state of resilience would be achieved. Thank youvery much.
Yuji Kurihara:Thank you. Next, I would like to invite Dr. Giovanni
Boccardi, Chief of the Emergency Preparedness
and Response, Culture Sector of UNESCO. Dr. Boccardi, will you please give us a comment on the fiveday meeting?
Giovanni Boccardi:
Thank you Mr. Chair. Well, everything has been already said. My comment is that this was a wonderful opportunity provided by our Japanese hosts andcolleagues and I want to also take this chance to express my gratitude for an opportunity, which enabled us to put on the table the issue of culture andheritage in the larger discourse of disaster risk reduction and resilience. These, as it has been mentioned, are the two worlds rather set apart fromeach other. But now we are breaking the ice, and I
think it was especially enlightening yesterday during the session, with some of the questions thatcame from the audience.
So, I think these five days have helped us to better frame the question, and to understand what
each of us have to do to bring this further. The cultural sector has some work to do and disaster risk
reduction sector has some work to do in order tointegrate the cultural dimension. Now, we haveseen the wonderful work that Japan is planning to
do. You have just made a presentation on this and I
am very impressed. I think in many countries, however, the cultural sector is much weaker and it will
not be possible for cultural institutions to do this on
their own. That is why they have to engage with thedisaster risk management sector, ministries of planning, civil protection, local governments, and theprivate sector. This is where, I think, the recommendations presented by my colleague Joseph
King make a lot of sense.
We have to develop evidence, we have to develop
tools, we have to be able to assist those institutions
to do what we think is the right thing, for the integrating cultural perspective and consideration for
heritage in their work. If we donʼt do this in partnership, it will not happen in most countries of theworld, so I would like to conclude by saying again,Sendai Symposium

thank you very much to the National Institutes for
Cultural Heritage, to the Agency for Cultural Affairsof Japan, to all the partners that are here for helping
us raising this issue here in Sendai and taking it further. Thank you.

in risk preparedness have to be spread all over the
heritage entities. This is particularly true for risk
preparedness because earthquakes, typhoons, conflicts have no boundaries, even less so, the boundaries of the world heritage sites. Thank you.

Yuji Kurihara:Thank you very much. Now, Iʼd like to ask DirectorGeneral of ICCROM, Mr. Stefano De Caro, to give
us a comment.

Yuji Kurihara:Thank you very much. Mr. Matsuura, please.

Stefano De Caro:
Thank you. My reflection will be on what we, ICCROM, as an international training organization
will do in our specific role. My answer is that we willcontinue to stress the importance of risk preparedness. Our council has accepted and sustained our
proposal based on the evidence of the last 20 yearsof keeping this area program as the main area in the
future years. We will do it combining the various
aspects and the studies in architecture, engineering, archaeology, museology, preventive conservation, organizational issues, sociology, anthropology,
spirituality and religion, etcetera.
I did not mention economics, not because I am
unaware of the substantial relevance of the funds,
funds raising activity, cost-effectiveness and so on,
but because I share the ideas of the writers of the
Italian Constitution of 1946, who put the culturaland the natural heritage among the new founding
principles of the country above other legitimate interests, including the economic worlds.
Combining disciplines does not mean to be superficial and generic just for the sake of intercommunication. We must be deep and effective in treating the technical problems, but also to consider theneed of spreading the consolidated results of thesestudies in the large network of professionals fromother disciplines, and in the larger public audience.
The role of the press seems substantial to me in thisperspective.
I think that we also have to develop these studies
and training, both for the world heritage and for thenational heritage. We have to react to the criticism
over the huge competition amongst state membersof UNESCO in the nomination process. We can do it
effectively coming back to the original spirit of theWorld Heritage List that sees the nominated sites as
the flags of all the heritage.
This means that these sites must be the modelsof the protection and the fair management practices
for the world heritage. The benefits of these studies

Koichiro Matsuura:
Although Iʼm not from Kyoto, Professor Tokiʼs talkwas very interesting, because these ideas are applicable to all over Japan, notably in the Tōhoku area.
From the point of view of disaster prevention of cultural heritage, of course, we have to make sure that
cultural heritage is passed onto the next generations. But, as Professor Toki said, the current generation should create new cultures and new cultures need to be passed on to the next generations,too. So, the present generationʼs new culture needs
to be inherited.
Kyoto was built when the capital of Japan wastransferred 1,200 years ago. Heian Jingu Shrine wasestablished in commemoration of the cityʼs 1,100th
anniversary. Visitors from foreign countries or eventhose from Japan may think that this was built many
centuries ago, but it was constructed in 1895, only
about 100 years ago.
In 1994 we celebrated the 1,200th anniversary of
Kyoto, and at that time the present Kyoto Station(completed in 1997) was under construction. My
apologies to the people of Kyoto, but I really donʼtthink the design of this station is appropriate for theancient capital.
It was in 1994 that “Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto” was designated as a World Heritage
Site. Last year, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary, I was invited as the keynote speaker. Even
though I am an not in favor of the design of Kyoto
Station, Iʼm not saying that we should change it.
What I means is when something new is built, weneed to consider designs appropriate for the surrounding environment, that would be appreciatedby the following generations. It also applies to thegreat earthquake of 2011 in Tōhoku and the reconstructions that are currently underway. Letʼs stopand think whether the recovery projects would
stand up to the time of 50 years or 100 years. Are webuilding something that would be appreciated by
the next generation, not only in terms of the disaster preparedness, but also in terms of culture? Letʼsthink about the possibility of this becoming appreci− 246 −Sendai Symposium

ated as a cultural heritage.
Then, going back to Kyoto again, in 90 years,
there will be the 1,300th anniversary celebration.
That is when the next generation will take a look at
Kyoto heritage as a review of the current culture.
When we talk about cultural heritage and disasterrisk reduction, we tend to only think about properties from the past. But we have to think about building for the future, works that will continue to be appreciated in the next 50 or 100 years to come.
Masashi Aoyagi:
We are now talking about Kyoto Station. I personally think the design of Kyoto Station is very good.
In order to bring the spotlight on the beauty of old
buildings, we have to build something new, andwhen we focus on something new, there has to besomething old around in it. That is why I like Kyoto
Station.
My last point is that when the war in Afghanistan
was over, a slogan raised for the National Museumof Afghanistan in Kabul was “A nation stays alive
when its culture stays alive.” What I strongly felt

throughout this conference is that “A community
stays alive when its cultural heritage stays alive.”
Yuji Kurihara:
Any other comments?
Kenzo Toki:
I am presently working on getting an architecturalmodel of the Rajōmon Gate displayed in front of
Kyoto Station. I would like to have people compare
Kyoto Station and Rajōmon Gate and see how good
both are. I would like the citizens of Kyoto, the Japanese, and foreigners to take a look and make donation of 1,000 yen. It may take 50 years for reconstruction of the gate, but I donʼt mind. I will not behere in 50 years, but I just want to make sure I put
the seed in the ground.
Yuji Kurihara:Thank you very much. This concludes the panel
discussion. Please give a round of big applause to
our panelists.

Sendai Symposium (Photo by Randolph Langenbach)Sendai Symposium (Photo by NICH)

Panel Discussion (Photo by ACA)

Panel Discussion (Photo by ACA)

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Sendai Symposium

Closing Remarks
Takamasa Saito
Councillor for Cultural Properties, ACA

Thank you very much for the introduction. I am
Takamasa Saito, Councillor for Cultural Properties,
ACA. I would like to say a few words to close this
symposium.
The International Expert Meeting on “Cultural
Heritage and Disaster Resilient Communities”
started on March 11th, and the end of this symposium marks the closing of the entire meeting.
Through the series of the events, we can say thatdisaster prevention for cultural heritage itself has tobe strengthened, and at the same time we need torecognize the importance of how this can help toconstruct local communities with high level of disaster prevention awareness during normal times, aswell as in time of emergency. Also, discussions
were made on what can be done, which reinforced
the importance of participation through cooperation. I think this has been a very meaningful meeting.

I would like to thank Mr. Koichiro Matsuura whois the Former Director-General of UNESCO, andalso all the speakers and all the participants. I would
also like to extend my gratitude to all the specialists, who were with us for the discussions fromMarch 11th, and especially the staff from UNESCO,ICCROM, ICOMOS, ICOM, who have contributed
greatly to the success of the specialist panel discussions.
I would like to wish all of you good health andsuccess, and, at the same time, I would like to seek
your understanding and cooperation for the rapid
reconstruction of areas affected by the Great East
Japan Earthquake. Also, as an ending note, I hopethat the strong messages presented at this expert
meeting will be conveyed to the people and cultural
heritage affected by natural disasters or thosecaused by human error in every parts of the world.
Thank you very much.

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