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Hiraizumi – Temples, Gardens and
Archaeological Sites Representing the
Buddhist Pure Land (extension)
Japon
Date de soumission : 25/09/2012
Critères: (ii)(iii)(vi)
Catégorie : Culturel
Soumis par :
Permanent Delegation of Japan to UNESCO
État, province ou région :
Iwate Prefecture
Coordonnées N38 59 37 E141 07 11
Ref.: 5760
Description
Over the course of the 12th century, Hiraizumi was a political and administrative center established in the northern
part of Japan’s main island of Honshû, in what was then a borderland between the territories ruled by Japan’s central
government and the regions farther to the north, and whose lively commerce with these regions served as its
economic underpinning. The Ôshû Fujiwara clan had its origins in the samurai traditions, and while on the strength of
the tremendous wealth accumulated over four generations, the family did not rely solely on its military power. Rather,
they built Hiraizumi with the aim of creating the Pure Land—a Buddhist conception of the ideal world. Hiraizumi came
into being as the locus of a unique pattern of regional rule with a religious core.
As a political and administrative center, Hiraizumi can be divided into a central area of roughly 190 hectares and a
surrounding area of roughly 370 hectares, each of which comprises multiple component parts.
The central area includes the temples, gardens, and archaeological sites representing the Buddhist Pure Land, which
are already inscribed on the World Heritage List, as well as the archaeological site of the buildings and their
compounds serving as both residence and government office that was the backbone of the political and
administrative power in the region. In the surrounding area, in addition to the sites of temple founded on pre-existing
Buddhist thought that formed the basis for the Pure Land thought, there are also archaeological sites such as the
manor that formed the wealth of Hiraizumi as the Pure Land, the workshops that were run with those wealth, and
other sites. Among the important points in both the central and surrounding areas there are the existence of the
remains of religious structures that were laid out deliberately, demonstrating a unique placement and construction
intended to represent the Pure Land as a whole.
These component parts have been well maintained up to the present day, and as such Hiraizumi offers an
exceptional example of a political and administrative center that embodies the Buddhist Pure Land.
Justification de la Valeur Universelle Exceptionelle
Hiraizumi, as a representation of the Buddhist ideal world known as the Pure Land, took as its point of departure the
ideals and design concepts of Buddhist temple architecture and gardens that had been transmitted from China and
the Korean peninsula, as well as the ideals and design concepts of constructing political and administrative centers
that originated in the ancient capital cities. These were fused with the unique Japanese sense of nature worship, and
in that process, Buddhist thought (particularly Buddhist Pure Land thought) developed in a unique and influential
manner that would create a new ideal and design concept upon which this political and administrative center would
be constructed in the 12th century. It was created with the vast wealth accumulated by four generations of the Ôshû
Fujiwara clan thanks to the abundant gold mining in the region and the exchange of cultural products that was being
carried out across a broad region stretching from Southeast Asia to China and the Russian maritime region, and up to
the northern seas. At the same time, it was constructed in a way that sought to incorporate the ever-changing natural
topography, while achieving the Pure Land as the Buddhist ideal world.
The unparalleled layout and construction patterns of this political and administrative center that emerged in Hiraizumi
would have an impact on the ideals and forms of future construction of Japanese cities.
Based on a form of religious-based administration, a unique culture flourished in Hiraizumi in both the central and
surrounding areas of the political and administrative center that directly reflected the political ideals of the statesmen.
This was expressed in the temples, gardens, residence-offices, and other related buildings that were built as the
manifestation of ideals of governance that relied on Buddhism rather than on military might—as symbolized by the
fact that the creators of Hiraizumi, the Ôshû Fujiwara clan, were entombed within the Amidadô (Amida hall). Many of
the elements necessary for understanding the ancient culture are maintained in good condition even after the
downfall of the Ôshû Fujiwara at the end of the 12th century, and these elements make the property unparalleled
testimony that Hiraizumi was a political and administrative center built with the aim of realizing the Pure Land as the
Buddhist ideal world.
Within the global religion and thought of Buddhism, Pure Land thought played an important role in developing a
unique perspective on life and death in the Asian region, and this is also strongly reflected in the construction and
layout of Hiraizumi as a political and administrative center that was built with the aim of realizing the Pure Land as a
Buddhist ideal world here on earth.
As seen from the above, the cultural heritage of Hiraizumi is the property of an important political and administrative
center that was formed as the result of an interchange of values among the peoples of East Asia, and it remains as
testimony of the effort to create the Pure Land as the Buddhist ideal world here on earth. In addition, underlying the
creation of this unparalleled political and administrative center that sought to achieve the Buddhist Pure Land here on
earth was the global religion and thought of Buddhism. Accordingly, the property possesses Outstanding Universal
Value and is thus significant in terms of the balance and representativeness of the World Heritage List.
Criterion (ii) The cultural heritage of 12th-century Hiraizumi shows how the concepts of Buddhist temple architecture
and gardens that were conveyed along with the Buddhist religion from China and the Korean Peninsula, as well as
the ideals and design concepts of political and administrative centers that originated in the ancient capital cities,
evolved as they interacted with Japan’s characteristic form of nature worship belief. It also shows how that developed
as a result into not only Japan’s unique Buddhist temples and gardens, but also the concepts, design, and layout of
its political and administrative center. The foundation for that was the abundant gold mining in the northern part of
Japan’s main island of Honshû, the exchange of cultural products that was being carried out across a broad region
stretching from Southeast Asia to China, the Russian maritime region, and the northern seas, and the vast wealth
accumulated as a result. This exceptional example of a political and administrative center created with the aim of
realizing the Pure Land as the Buddhist ideal world on earth would continue to have a lasting impact on the concepts
and forms of Japanese cities.
Criterion (iii) Hiraizumi witnessed the flourishing of a unique culture of outstanding quality. Although the leaders were
samurai, they applied religious criteria, and their political ideals of trying to create a Buddhist Pure Land in the present
world were reflected in the development of the central and surrounding areas of their political and administrative
center. The fact that the Ôshû Fujiwara clan sought to realize a Buddhist-based governance ideal is reflected in the
temples, gardens, residences, and other structures they built, as well as in the unique form and construction of the
cluster of buildings that formed the political and administrative center. The downfall of the Ôshû Fujiwara clan at the
end of the 12th century brought an end to Hiraizumi’s role as the political and administrative center in Japan’s
northern territories, and subsequent developments did not bring about any large-scale changes. As a result the
various elements that are critical for understanding the culture that flourished there have remained in excellent
condition. They totally bear testimony of the culture of Hiraizumi, as a place established with the aim of achieving the
Pure Land as the Buddhist ideal world.
Criterion (vi) The cultural heritage of Hiraizumi unquestionably represents the diffusion of Buddhism throughout the
broad Asian region and, within that context, the fusion of Buddhism with Japan’s indigenous ethos of nature worship
and the unique development in Japan of the ideas of Amida’s Pure Land of Utmost Bliss. The layout and construction
of the cluster of component parts symbolize the fact that the political and administrative center at Hiraizumi was
constructed with the aim of achieving a Buddhist Pure Land in the present world.
Déclarations d’authenticité et/ou d’intégrité
Authenticity
The component parts of this political and administrative center that form the Pure Land as a Buddhist ideal world
include not only the currently existing temple compounds and gardens but also the underground archeological
remains that have been confirmed through decades of excavations, and thus the authenticity of all component parts
is clear. Also, in terms of the historical record showing that the political and administrative center of Hiraizumi was
built with the intention of achieving a Pure Land as a Buddhist ideal world, strict study have been made and the
authenticity of the content of the description is solid.
Integrity
The property includes all temples and gardens in diverse forms that give concrete expression to
the creation of a Buddhist Pure Land. At the same time, it includes all component parts essential
to the site as a political and administrative center built to reflect Japan’s unique Buddhist thought
while at the same time achieving a Buddhist Pure Land. Each component part contains the
necessary scope to serve as elements expressing the property’s nature as a political and
administrative center that sought to express the Pure Land as a Buddhist ideal world. All
component parts have been preserved in good condition. The surrounding environment is also well
maintained and plays a supplementary role in recognizing the Pure Land of Hiraizumi as a
Buddhist ideal world.
Comparaison avec d’autres biens similaires
Among the political and administrative centers in the Asian region that were strongly influenced by religious thought
and are currently on the World Heritage List, those related to capital cities include the “Historic Monuments of Ancient
Nara” (Japan), “Gyeongju Historic Areas” (South Korea), and “Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, Lhasa”
(China), while “Kamakura, Home of the Samurai” and the “Asuka-Fujiwara Archaeological Sites of Japan’s Ancient
Capitals and Related Properties” are included in the Japan’s tentative list.
Among these properties, there are none that are similar to the Hiraizumi cultural heritage in that the layout of the
Buddhist temples and gardens, tombs, and residence/offices are positioned in the central area in such a way as to
express the manifestation of the Pure Land based on a unique Buddhist thought that developed in that location. Nor
are any similar in that the relevant facilities in the central and surrounding areas were deliberately positioned to create
an overall manifestation of the Pure Land as a Buddhist ideal world.