ユネスコの追加勧告にみる富士山の世界文化遺産としての課題

In 2013, Mt. Fuji was inscribed on the World Heritage List. However, the World Heritage Committee made six recommendations to be implemented before February 2016. While most are linked directly to environmental conservation plans to control the number of climbers, other points give particular attention to the lack of information for tourists to understand the endemic importance of Mt. Fuji. The cultural and social backgrounds of religious beliefs associated with Mt. Fuji (namely Shugendo and Fujikou) are summarized. These developed over a long period and underpin regional spiritual and aesthetic relationships among pilgrimage groups, regional owners of pilgrim hostels, shrine priests, and Mt. Fuji itself. Although the World Heritage Committee valued this religious background as being of outstanding universal value, an analysis of the contents of Internet tour bookings and reviews of a website demonstrates that itineraries related to Mt. Fuji largely omit the 25 components of this World Heritage. Although the number of inbound tourists increased sharply after the World Heritage listing, due to language barriers, as well as time and financial constraints, visitors have a strong tendency to choose short-term package tours, meaning they may bypass the heart of the cultural landscape of Mt. Fuji. To help deepen the understanding of tourists, it would be valuable to develop an ability-based grade system and conduct a human resources development program.