Japan reports damage to 53 cultural assets after Kumamoto quake
Kumamoto Castle may face further restoration delays as officials assess damage spanning National Treasures and World Heritage components.
- A total of 53 cultural properties were damaged by a magnitude-7.1 earthquake in Kumamoto and three neighboring prefectures.
- Kumamoto Castle, already undergoing restoration, suffered new damage including collapsed stone walls and cracks in its main tower, potentially delaying its reopening.
- The damaged assets include three National Treasures (Aoi Aso Shrine and Tsujunkyo Bridge) and 11 Important Cultural Properties.
- Damage was also sustained at components of World Heritage sites, such as Misumi West Port and Manda Pit.
Kumamoto Castle faces a possible setback to its long-running restoration after sustaining fresh damage in the magnitude-7.1 earthquake that struck south-western Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture last week.
Sections of the castle’s stone walls collapsed at dozens of locations, while cracks appeared in the main tower.
Restoration was already under way following two powerful earthquakes a decade ago, and the latest damage may delay the full reopening scheduled for fiscal 2052.
By Monday (August 3), Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs had recorded damage to 53 cultural properties across Kumamoto and the neighbouring prefectures of Fukuoka, Nagasaki and Kagoshima.
Forty-eight were in Kumamoto.
The overall tally included three National Treasures and 11 Important Cultural Properties, as well as assets at World Heritage sites.
Among the National Treasures affected were Aoi Aso Shrine in Hitoyoshi and Tsujunkyo Bridge in Yamato, both of which sustained partial damage.
Windows were also broken at Misumi West Port in Uki and Manda Pit in Arao, two World Heritage components associated with Japan’s Meiji industrial revolution.
Elsewhere in Kumamoto, a building collapsed and windows shattered at Shohinken, a centuries-old tea house and garden in Yatsushiro designated as a national scenic site.
The water level in its pond also fell temporarily.
In Hikawa, the main building of the former Iseri family residence, a nationally registered Tangible Cultural Property also known as a sake brewery, was left severely tilted.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
