S56-6

A Handbook for Underwater Archaeological Sites: A Step Forward in Japan's Legal System Concerning Underwater Cultural Properties

International Maritime Research Center (IMaRC), Kobe University, Japan

On 31 March 2022, Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs and the Committee on Research and Examination of Underwater Archaeological Sites published "A Handbook for Underwater Archaeological Sites" after almost a decade of consultation. The Handbook is essential in giving local government officials formal enlightenment on maritime cultural properties. 

Previously, the legal phrases “Unseen Archaeological Heritage Site” and “Well-known Unseen Cultural Properties’ Site” appeared in the Act on Protection of Cultural Properties on 29 May 1954. Due to the notification no. 50 issued in 22 June 1954, the Director-general of the National Commission for Protection of Cultural Properties proclaimed that the term “unseen” also encompassed underwater relics because of its invisibility and inaccessibility under water. This inclusive interpretation thus provided the blanket shield to protect the underwater archaeological sites. In practice, however, there is a lack of personnel and the law is ineffective since the majority of Japanese archaeologists are land-based.

The Handbook is appraised as advancing the old-fashioned administration of underwater cultural properties in light of the law, which has not been substantially amended since 1954. The excavation of a medieval shipwreck site was permitted under notification no. 75 issued by the Deputy Commissioner for Cultural Affairs on the 1st of October 1998. The Handbook thus underscores the necessity to extend the protection of the Underwater Archaeological Site beyond the medieval period on the basis of its historical value.

My presentation aims to examine the attempt of the Japanese authority to build capacity for administrative staff without revising the existing law. It is the most concern that personnel must be increased in terms of number and practical skills as a core of Japan’s future protection for such valuable heritage and catalyse the transformation of Japan's maritime cultural heritage legislative, administrative, and management framework.