01692nas a2200205   4500000000100000000000100001008004100002653001800043653002400061653001500085653001700100653001300117100002000130245007700150856015400227300001000381490000700391520106800398022002001466                                       d10aEast and West10aintangible heritage10aIse Shrine10aAuthenticity10areligion1 aNatsuko Akagawa00aRethinking the global heritage discourse - overcoming  East  and  West ?  uhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84937908584&doi=10.1080%2f13527258.2015.1068213&partnerID=40&md5=5de2a7f0a9b2fa9e825f06d8db77c13b  a14-250 v223 aThis article illustrates how Japans involvement in international heritage discourse, in particular since the Nara Conference in 1994, played an important role in the development of a global understanding of heritage and what it constitutes. It explores the way the Ise Shrine came to be represented as an iconic example of an Eastern approach to heritage to become central in the paradigm shift within global heritage discourse towards acknowledging cultural diversity. In this article, however, I argue that the presentation and understanding of the Ise Shrine has perpetuated a number of misconceptions about an Eastern approach to heritage conservation. In particular, its presentation and interpretation as a cultural site devoid of its distinct religious and political significance, limits what can be learned from it. This article argues that without full recognition of the religious beliefs intimately embedded in the traditional social structures, practices and attitudes related to heritage sites, recognition of cultural diversity would remain limited.  a13527258 (ISSN)