By Ken Y-N ( November 13, 2007 at 23:42)
· Filed under Polls, Society
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In Japan I’ve been to a number of UNESCO World Heritage sites – the Hiroshima Genbaku Dome (the dome itself is a bit of a disappointment), old Kyoto and Nara, Himeji Castle and I think Koyasan, which falls into the Kii mountains heritage zone. To find out that the average Japanese person feels about these sites, MyVoice performd a survey on this topic of Japan’s World Heritage sites.
Demographics
Over the first five days of October 2007 17,163 members of the MyVoice internet community completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 54% of the sample was female, 2% in their teens, 17% in their twenties, 40% in their thirties, 25% in their forties, and 16% in their fifties.
The company that I work for every year produces a calendar with excellent photographs of World Heritage sites; back when I worked in Scotland we got a whole box of them free to distribute to business contacts and ourselves, but now in Japan we have to pay for them, but regardless, every year I try to send one back to the parents. At least they are rather cheap with the postage usually costing more than the calendar and mailing tube.
Without resorting to the web, I think I could only name three Scottish sites – Edinburgh Old and New Town, New Lanark, and I think St Kilda. Checking it out further, the fourth Scottish site is Neolithic Orkney, which I had a suspicion about. In Q2, I’ve definitely visited more than 10 World Heritage sites, although I couldn’t list them of the top of my head. By tracing my trips to Europe, though, I could name up to 20 locations where surely the majority of them must be listed! Similarly, the answer on naming 30 world sites; give me enough chances to give wrong answers and I could easily meet that figure!
Of the sites I haven’t been to, Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine is the one I’d most like to visit. I must admit, however, to having never heard of Yakushima until this survey!
Research results
Q1: Are you interested in World Heritige? (Sample size=17,163)
| Interested |
17.9% |
| Interested a little |
38.5% |
| Can’t say either way |
19.5% |
| Not very interested |
16.4% |
| Not interested at all |
7.6% |
Q2: Which of the following World Heritige-related matters have you done, etc? (Sample size=17,163, multiple answer)
| Often watch programs on World Heritage sites |
26.4% |
| Have World Heritage sites I’d like to visit |
21.4% |
| Am proud of national or local World Heritage sites |
16.5% |
| Have visited World Heritage sites overseas |
16.0% |
| On travel have often aimed to see World Heritage sites |
8.1% |
| Often look up World Heritage site matters in books or on the internet |
6.0% |
| Have visited more than 10 World Heritage sites |
5.7% |
| Have a book, DVD, etc about World Heritage |
3.4% |
| Can name more than 30 World Heritage sites |
3.3% |
| Know the outline of how sites get registered as World Heritage sites, history of UNESCO, etc |
2.2% |
| Taken part in activities to preserve World Heritage sites |
1.1% |
| Taken part in activities to get sites registered as World Heritage |
0.5% |
| None of the above |
46.1% |
| No answer |
0.3% |
Q3: Which of the following sites did you know were World Heritige-registered? (Sample size=17,163, multiple answer)
| Yakushima |
68.8% |
| Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) |
59.3% |
| Itsukushima Shinto Shrine |
56.8% |
| Shiretoko Peninsula |
54.4% |
| Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama |
48.9% |
| Himeji Castle |
45.2% |
| Buddhist Monuments in Horyu-ji |
42.9% |
| Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine |
41.5% |
| Shirakami-Sanchi |
37.9% |
| Temples and shrines at Nikko |
33.1% |
| Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range |
32.6% |
| Old Nara |
31.3% |
| Old Kyoto |
31.1% |
| Gusuku (castle) in the Kingdom of Ryukyu |
20.4% |
| None of the above |
6.4% |
| No answer |
0.2% |
Q4: Which of the following World Heritage sites have you visited? (Sample size=17,163, multiple answer)
| Buddhist Monuments in Horyu-ji |
50.1% |
| Old Kyoto |
47.8% |
| Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) |
44.0% |
| Old Nara |
40.9% |
| Temples and shrines at Nikko |
38.9% |
| Itsukushima Shinto Shrine |
33.2% |
| Himeji Castle |
31.0% |
| Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama |
18.1% |
| Shiretoko Peninsula |
15.8% |
| Gusuku (castle) in the Kingdom of Ryukyu |
14.1% |
| Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range |
8.7% |
| Yakushima |
4.0% |
| Shirakami-Sanchi |
3.4% |
| Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine |
3.1% |
| None of the above |
17.0% |
| No answer |
0.4% |
Q5: Which of following World Heritage sites did you feel glad that you’d visited? (Sample size=17,163, up to three answers)
| Old Kyoto |
29.0% |
| Buddhist Monuments in Horyu-ji |
23.8% |
| Itsukushima Shinto Shrine |
18.7% |
| Old Nara |
17.3% |
| Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) |
16.1% |
| Temples and shrines at Nikko |
15.1% |
| Himeji Castle |
14.8% |
| Shiretoko Peninsula |
11.7% |
| Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama |
10.0% |
| Gusuku (castle) in the Kingdom of Ryukyu |
7.1% |
| Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range |
3.8% |
| Yakushima |
3.0% |
| Shirakami-Sanchi |
1.9% |
| Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine |
0.9% |
| Didn’t like any of them |
7.9% |
| Haven’t visited any of them |
17.0% |
| No answer |
0.5% |
Q6: Which of following World Heritage sites did not live up to expectations when you visited them? (Sample size=17,163, up to three answers)
| Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) |
2.9% |
| Himeji Castle |
2.1% |
| Temples and shrines at Nikko |
1.8% |
| Itsukushima Shinto Shrine |
1.7% |
| Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama |
1.2% |
| Buddhist Monuments in Horyu-ji |
1.2% |
| Old Kyoto |
1.1% |
| Old Nara |
0.9% |
| Gusuku (castle) in the Kingdom of Ryukyu |
0.9% |
| Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine |
0.7% |
| Shiretoko Peninsula |
0.6% |
| Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range |
0.5% |
| Shirakami-Sanchi |
0.2% |
| Yakushima |
0.2% |
| Didn’t feel any failed to meet expectations |
70.1% |
| Haven’t visited any of them |
17.0% |
| No answer |
2.0% |
Q7: Which of following World Heritage sites would you want to visit in the future? (Sample size=17,163, up to three answers)
| Yakushima |
57.4% |
| Shiretoko Peninsula |
31.9% |
| Gusuku (castle) in the Kingdom of Ryukyu |
20.1% |
| Shirakami-Sanchi |
17.7% |
| Itsukushima Shinto Shrine |
16.7% |
| Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama |
16.6% |
| Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) |
11.5% |
| Himeji Castle |
10.7% |
| Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range |
10.6% |
| Silver mines at Ishimi |
9.9% |
| Old Kyoto |
8.7% |
| Temples and shrines at Nikko |
6.0% |
| Buddhist Monuments in Horyu-ji |
5.7% |
| Old Nara |
5.3% |
| Don’t want to visit any of them |
11.5% |
| No answer |
0.6% |
Q8: The following sites are on the candidate lists for World Heritage registration. Which would you like to see listed? (Sample size=17,163, multiple answer)
| Mount Fuji |
49.5% |
| Old Kamakura temples, shrines, etc |
20.4% |
| Nagasaki Christian sites |
18.4% |
| Ogasawara islands |
18.4% |
| Hiraizumi |
17.1% |
| Asuka, Fujiwara-no-Miya |
13.5% |
| Hikone Castle |
6.7% |
| Fukuoka silk manufacture sites |
6.7% |
| None of the above |
20.1% |
| No answer |
0.7% |
Read more on: myvoice,
unesco,
world heritage
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