02345nas a2200361   4500000000100000000000100001008004100002653001700043653002300060653002300083653002200106653002400128653001000152653002200162653001100184653002200195653002300217653001100240653002400251653002200275653002300297653002300320653002300343653002500366653001900391653001200410100003000422245011300452856014300565490000700708520124800715022002001963                                       d10aAuthenticity10acultural landscape10acultural tradition10aHidden Christians10aintangible heritage10aJapan10aKakure Kirishitan10aKyushu10aNagasaki [Kyushu]10aSenpuku Kirishitan10aUNESCO10aWorld heritage site10acultural heritage10acultural landscape10acultural tradition10alandscape planning10alandscape protection10aSustainability10avillage1 aTinka Delakorda Kawashima00aThe Authenticity of the Hidden Christians  Villages in Nagasaki: Issues in Evaluation of Cultural Landscapes  uhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85104704643&doi=10.3390%2fsu13084387&partnerID=40&md5=620e71008bc2de1f2bcb846bd02861020 v133 aLocated in the north-western part of Kyushu, “Hidden Christians Sites in the Nagasaki Region” were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018. This serial property consists of twelve sites, including the Christian villages that bear unique testimony to a cultural tradition nurtured under a long period of religious prohibition. Based on fieldwork research at Kirishitan villages in Hirado City, this paper shows how the global conservation strategies affect the local people and the sustainability of their cultural tradition. Comparing UNESCO and Japanese cultural landscape protection policies, I argue that the evaluation and selection of sites that begin at the local authorities and stakeholders’ level, is eventually reduced to tangible properties ready-made for tourist consumption. Here, the evaluation subsides under the UNESCO authenticity criteria and narrow governmental interests towards the cultural tradition it is supposed to protect. Therefore, for the protection of cultural landscapes and the living traditions, the decisions by cultural heritage protection authorities should be carefully made, based on scientific research of a cultural tradition, and in the interest of the tradition’s living successors.  a20711050 (ISSN)