On 3rd September the Council for Cultural Affairs, advising Japan’s culture minister, chose Hikone Castle in Shiga Prefecture as one of the country’s contenders for fiscal 2026 to be inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The nomination of the castle in the city of Hikone will be submitted to UNESCO following internal Japanese processes, including discussions on the castle’s nomination at the meetings of related ministries and government departments, and cabinet approval, by February 2028.
The inscription of the castle on the World Heritage list is Japan’s next target for 2028.
It was started in 1604 under the direction of the Tokugawa shogunate. It was finished some 20 years later.
It has been designated as a national treasure because of its castle tower and other buildings and facilities. Hikone Castle was inscribed on Japan’s tentative list in 1992 for consideration for World Heritage status.
The Shiga Prefectural Government and Hikone Municipal Government hope that Hikone Castle will be registered on a single basis, placing particular focus on its Edo Period (1603-1867) symbolism of daimyo feudal lords’ rule.
As part of its preliminary assessment in 2024, UNESCO’s International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) referred to the potential of Hikone Castle property to meet the requirements for World Heritage inscription and noted that while the castle may provide an explanation for the daimyo governance system, it could also be seen as a challenge.
The Council for Cultural Affairs did not make the choice of the castle as a World Heritage candidate in August 2025, but said that it required further efforts for the single nomination.
After communities re-submitted a draft nomination in May this year, the council then started to think about selecting the castle.
The council determined that the value of Hikone Castle was an outstanding universal value that can explain the system of daimyo rule in Japan alone without Japan’s approval and recommended amending the draft nomination in the following way to help promote understanding of the castle by foreign experts by using easier descriptions.
By the end of this month, the Japanese government will submit the provisional nomination of Hikone Castle to UNESCO.
Following a formal nomination and site visit by ICOMOS, the World Heritage Committee is expected to consider the inscription of the castle at the 2028 meeting of the Committee.
