Special Natural Monuments

Monuments (記念物, kinenbutsu^?) is a collective term used by the Japanese government's Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties to denote Cultural Properties of Japan as historic locations such as shell mounds, ancient tombs, sites of palaces, sites of forts or castles, monumental dwelling houses and other sites of high historical or scientific value; gardens, bridges, gorges, mountains, and other places of great scenic beauty; and natural features such as animals, plants, and geological or mineral formations of high scientific value.

The government designates (as opposed to registers: see Registered Monuments below) "significant" items of this kind as Cultural Properties and classifies them in one of three categories:

Items of particularly high significance may receive a higher classification as:

As of September 2013, there were 3,089 nationally designated Monuments: 1,710 Historic Sites (including 61 Special Historic Sites), 374 Places of Scenic Beauty (including 36 Special Places of Scenic Beauty), and 1,005 Natural Monuments (including 75 Special Natural Monuments). Since a single property can be included within more than one of these classes, the total number of properties is less than the sum of designations: for example Hamarikyu Gardens are both a Special Historic Site and a Special Place of Scenic Beauty.

As of 1 May 2013, there were a further 2,961 Historic Sites, 266 Places of Scenic Beauty, and 2,985 Natural Monuments designated at a prefectural level and 12,840 Historic Sites, 845 Places of Scenic Beauty, and 11,020 Natural Monuments designated at a municipal level.

Alterations to the existing state of a site or activities affecting its preservation require permission from the Commissioner for Cultural Affairs. Financial support for purchasing and conserving designated land and for the utilization of the site is available through local governments.

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