Turnstiles for a World Heritage site

ANYONE WHO’S SEEN PHOTOS promoting tourism in Japan has seen the entrance to the Itsukushima Shinto shrine on the island of Miyajima in Hiroshima Bay. The bright red torii, or shrine gateway, stands in the water of the bay leading to the island.

Built in 1168, the shrine is a UNESCO World Heritage site that attracts roughly three million visitors a year from throughout Japan and around the world. The sheer volume of visitors means the area requires considerable maintenance, and the site itself required a great deal of maintenance to begin with. The shrine’s structural members are subject to water damage, and the pine forest surrounding the shrine has been suffering from blight.

In addition, a September 2004 typhoon destroyed the Sagakubo, a hall at the shrine for the performance of ritual music and dance. Hatsukaichi, the municipality in which the site is located, was liable for 40 million yen (almost US $386,000) of the 790 million yen in repair costs.

That’s a substantial financial burden for a small local government to deal with, so they’ve decided they’re going to get assistance for all those expenditures. The city has decided to charge what it calls an “island admission tax” to pay for the upkeep of the shrine, the cultural treasures, and the surrounding environment. (In fact, it will be technically classified as an “environmental cooperation tax”.)

Levying this tax was one of the campaign pledges of Hatsukaichi Mayor Shinno Katsuhiro. Now that he’s been elected, he’s going to be keeping his campaign promise. (Isn’t it just like a politician to keep the promises that cost money!)

Mayor Shinno is going to make the case for the tax to City Council this month, though the council’s decision is a foregone conclusion. A project team will be established in April to create a framework proposal for the amount of the tax and who exactly will pay. Later in this summer, a committee of experts and island residents will be formed to study the issue in greater detail. Mayor Shinno says he hopes people will understand why the tax is needed because protecting the environment costs a lot of money.

Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs agrees. They say protection of the surrounding area is absolutely necessary because it comprises a single entity with the shrine. The agency also notes that one of the conditions of registration as a World Heritage site is the establishment of measures for the protection of the entire area. Incidentally, this will be the first charge to be levied for the protection of a World Heritage site in Japan.

Izena in Okinawa Prefecture levied a similar tax in 2005, and it costs 100 yen, slightly less than a U.S. dollar, for entry to the island.

Here’s the English-language website for Miyajima, and here’s the UNESCO page for the Itsukushima shrine, both of which are worth your time. This YouTube video offers a lot of different views in 1:49, including shots taken at high tide and at low tide.