Group of 100 Devotees of Koyasan and Kumano

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Professor at Kobe Design University and professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo

Yukio Nishimura

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Yukio Nishimura was born in Fukuoka City in 1952. He graduated from the University of Tokyo and then completed a graduate program at the institution. After serving as an assistant at Meiji University and then as an associate professor and full professor at the University of Tokyo, he came to his current position in 2018. His area of specialization is urban planning. He holds a Doctor of Engineering degree. He’s involved in developing plans for preserving the cultural legacy of historic cities in Japan and across Asia.
His principal works include Toshi kara Mananda 10 no Koto (Gakugei Shuppansha, 2019), Kento Monogatari (Yuhikaku, 2018), Nishimura Yukio Bunka・Kankoron Nouto (Kajima Institute Publishing, 2018), Machi wo Omou: Nishimura Yukio Kouen/Taidanshuu (Kajima Institute Publishing, 2018), and Toshi Hozen Keikaku (University of Tokyo Press, 2004). Works he has edited include Machi wo Yomitoku (Asakura Publishing, 2017) and Machi no Mikata/Shirabekata (Asakura Publishing, 2010).

The Kumano Kodo cleanses the heart.

When the Kumano Kodo was registered as a World Heritage in 2004, I was involved in assessing the nomination letter submitted by the Japanese government in my capacity as the vice director of the International Council on Monuments and Sites. I was further involved with issues related to the registration of the “Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range” World Heritage during the additional registration in 2016 as a member of the Related Cultural Property Designation Study Committee formed by Wakayama Prefecture and as the chairperson of the Academic Committee organized to draft the additional nomination letter. I have continued to be involved with the maintenance and management of constituent cultural properties after the registration as the chairperson of the Expert Committee established by the Three-Prefecture Council.
 Whenever I visit Koyasan and the Kumano Kodo, I experience a richness of nature that cleanses the heart as well as a uniquely Japanese approach to prayer that cannot be easily separated from it. I hope that I am able to help ensure that this Spiritual Japan is valued and understood by people around the world.

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