| Summary: | The first modern measures to preserve Japan’s cultural properties were taken in 1871, while the first preservation law, on which current measures are based, was passed in 1950. However, the strong economic growth and decentralisation that have characterised postwar Japan, as well as the desire to meet UNESCO World Heritage criteria, have led to substantial changes in heritage preservation. The promotion of cultural properties increasingly linked to the lives of local populations, in addition to the establishment of a notification system, has seen a move towards more flexible methods of protection. Nevertheless, the so-called “buried cultural properties” remain the exception that still has no clearly defined place in the law.
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