『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)"]』