Giappone: nascita del sistema legislativo per la protezione del patrimonio culturale

Roland Barthes, commenting on a hypothetical relationship between East and West, provides an unusual explanation; he states, in fact, that it is useless in a research - conducted by a Westerner - to bring these two cultural realities closer together. Japanese preservation is rightfully credited with the development of the concept of intangible heritage. But it has become a cliché to attribute the singular traits of Japanese preservation to its isolation from foreign influences. This essay shows that the development of Japanese preservation policies from the Meiji Period (1868-1926) to the recent past were far more politically driven, and in dialogue with foreign ideas, than is often acknowledged. Early 20th century politicians often secured power by stoking popular fears that the country was becoming too Buddhist, or too Westernized, and promoted preservation policies that produced a sense of cultural uniqueness. During the post-war years, American rule shifted social power dynamics and saw the emergence of bottom-up citizen-led preservation groups more concerned with preserving their “cultural space,” conceived as traditional neighbourhoods and lifestyles, against Westernization. As Japan joined the international community a new generation of preservationists jockeyed for power within UNESCO by emphasizing their unique intellectual contributions, seizing upon the recent concept of cultural space, and eventually recasting according to Zen and Buddhist philosophy into a concept of intangible heritage that defied Western chronologies.