Weighing up intangible heritage: A view from ise

Heritage is often contentious but intangible heritage is especially so. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) recognized the intangible heritage of dance, theatre, storytelling, landscapes, beliefs and many other things in its ‘Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage’ of 2003 (UNESCO 2003); a recognition that was spurred on by dissatisfaction among non-western nations with the Euro-centric bias of UNESCO’s heritage-listing practices. Subsequent discussions of intangible heritage continue to arraign UNESCO’s approach as causing abuses linked to national power, assumed expertise, unwielding bureaucracy, commercial exploitation and an unhealthy fixation on aesthetics. This chapter traces the emergence of intangible heritage into global heritage consciousness and, while acknowledging that much of this is indeed conflicted and problematic, critiques the more well- worn discussions of it. There are two sections, the first on origins and criticisms, the second on experience and aesthetics, both exploring how discussions of the intangible are locked into wider pre-existing arguments about heritage in general. As Japan is a prime mover in the intangible heritage story, Japanese examples feature throughout, especially the Ise Shrine, which is returned to at various points in the chapter as it serves perfectly as a lightning rod for the historical, political, commercial and aesthetic anxieties that shape intangible heritage discourse. © 2019 selection and editorial matter, Sheila Watson, Amy Jane Barnes and Katy Bunning; individual chapters, the contributors.