『In September 1992, in response, the Hiroshima
City Council adopted the "Opinion Paper
Seeking Registration on the World Heritage
List for the A-bomb Dome," a request
the city then presented to the national government.
Initially, the national government opposed
the idea, stating that "The A-bomb Dome
is not protected under the domestic Cultural
Properties Protection Act, so it lacks a
vital prerequisite for nomination as a World
Heritage site. Furthermore, it is not old
enough to be designated a nationfal cultural
asset."
To counter this attitude, citizens groups
in June 1993, formed the Committee to Promote
the A-bomb Dome as a World Heritage Site(A-bomb
Dome Committee) which launched a nationwide
signature campaign to petition the Diet to
nominate the A-bomb Dome as a World Heritage
site. This petition was accepted by the House
of Councilors in January 1994 and by the
House of Representatives in June.(1,653,996
signatures were collected).
International Council on Monuments and Sites(ICOMOS)evaluated the
nomination, and in December 1996, at the
World Heritage Committee Meeting in Mexico,
the decision was made to register the A-bomb
Dome on the World Heritage List.[registered
under the English heading "Hiroshima
Peace Memorial(Genbaku Dome)"]』 |