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An Appeal for Withdrawing the Plan to Route the Keinawa Expressway beneath the Nara Palace World Heritage Site and Nara Capital City Site

The Nara palace remains, a Special Historic and World Heritage site, are currently the focus of worldwide attention.

Last autumn, we held the “Symposium to Consider the Crisis Facing the Nara Palace Site from the Plan for a High-speed Thoroughfare,” and based on the consensus of all participants made public “An Appeal for Withdrawing the Plan to Route the Keinawa Expressway beneath the Nara Palace World Heritage Site.” But despite the mounting movement against it, the reckless plan to route a high-speed thoroughfare beneath the Nara palace site has still not been withdrawn, despite its contradiction of the aims of the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties[日本学科1] .

A committee, convened by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport from September of last year to study the water table at the site, concluded from an analysis of meager data that the tunnel would have minimum effect on the water table and on buried cultural properties. But specialists have raised serious doubts about this conclusion. As stated in a proposal drawn up by a second committee, subsequently established by the Ministry to examine cultural properties issues, it is not desirable from either a domestic or international perspective to place a tunnel beneath a site that is recognized worldwide, or in its environs. To force through such construction would be an act of blasphemy against the World Heritage.

As the Agency for Cultural Affairs has stated, the Nara palace remains were originally registered with the World Heritage because their value as an archaeological site “composed of fragile soils and wood” was recognized. If there is possibility for even the slightest change in the water table, which is feared would affect these archaeological remains and artifacts, including mokkan (inscribed wooden tablets), then construction should not conducted. Once such remains and artifacts are destroyed, it is impossible to recover them again. Furthermore, it is not enough simply to make a detour around the Nara palace site. The environs of the national Route 24 Bypass, extending east and south from the palace grounds, constitutes a great treasure house of mokkan rivaling even the palace itself, as shown by the discovery therein of the enormous Nagaya? and Nij? ?ji caches. There is a high possibility that large quantities of mokkan, equaling the rank of Important Cultural Property in value, lie dormant in other areas of the ancient Nara capital area, in addition to the Nara palace site.

  Under these circumstances, we convened today the “Second Symposium to Consider the Crisis Facing the Nara Palace Site and Ancient Nara Capital Site from the Plan for a High-speed Thoroughfare,” and made a fresh determination to preserve the Nara palace and capital sites. It is our duty to protect and pass on to future generations these sites, archaeological remains, and historic scenery which have been preserved for over 1200 years. The time has come to make a decision we can present honorably to the world and to the Japan of the future. From this perspective, we again make a strong call for the withdrawal of the plan to route the Keinawa Expressway beneath the Nara palace World Heritage site and the Nara capital site.         NaraCapital

17 November 2002

The Participants, “Symposium to Consider the Crisis Facing the Nara Palace Site and Nara Capital City Site from the Plan for a High-speed Thoroughfare”