53 Cultural Properties Damaged by Kumamoto Quake

Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)--The 7.1-magnitude earthquake that struck Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, last week had affected 53 cultural properties, including those at World Heritage sites, as of Monday, the Cultural Affairs Agency said.

The affected assets, located in Kumamoto and neighboring Fukuoka, Nagasaki and Kagoshima prefectures, include three national treasures and 11 national important cultural properties.

Of the total, 48 affected properties are in Kumamoto.

At Shohinken, a centuries-old tea house with a garden in the city of Yatsushiro that is a national scenic site, a building collapsed, windows shattered and the pond water level temporarily fell.

The main building of the former Iseri family residence, a national registered tangible cultural property also known as a sake brewery, in the town of Hikawa, is now severely tilted.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]