Nara Cafe Owner Hopes for Ancient Capitals' World Heritage Listing

Asuka, Nara Pref., July 20 (Jiji Press)--A cafe owner in Nara Prefecture pins high hopes on the expected registration of the Asuka-Fujiwara ancient capitals in the western Japan prefecture as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

"I hope (the UNESCO listing) will be an opportunity for people to become interested in how Japan was built as a nation," said Takahiro Yamazaki, 64, who runs the cafe in the Nara village of Asuka, home to many of the assets comprising the prospective World Heritage site.

A decision to add the Asuka-Fujiwara ancient capitals, made up of 19 assets from the sixth to eighth centuries, including the Asuka Palace Site, the Fujiwara Palace Site and the Takamatsuzuka Mounded Tomb, to the list of World Heritage sites is expected to be made through deliberations at the UNESCO World Heritage Committee's ongoing meeting in Busan, South Korea.

Yamazaki moved to the Nara city of Kashihara, which hosts assets including the Fujiwara Palace Site, from Osaka Prefecture, a Nara neighbor, when he was a child.

He said he was fascinated by the village of Asuka, which borders Kashihara and has rich rural scenery and a lot of historical heritage. "When I was a boy, I frequently went around historical sites by bicycle."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]