Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range of Japan was inscribed on the World Heritage List as a cultural heritage at the 28th Session of the World Heritage Committee, scheduled from June 28 to July 7 in Suzhou of east China's Jiangsu Province.

Set in the dense forests of the Kii Mountains overlooking the Pacific Ocean, three sacred sites, Yoshino and Omine, Kumano Sanzan, and Koyasan were linked by pilgrimage routes to the ancient capital cities of Nara and Kyoto.

They reflect the fusion of Shinto, rooted in the ancient tradition of nature worship in Japan, and Buddhism, which was introduced to Japan from China and the Korean peninsula.

The 495.3-hectare sites and their surrounding forest landscape reflect a persistent and extraordinarily well-documented tradition of sacred mountains over 1,200 years. The area, with its abundance of streams, rivers and waterfalls, is still part of the living culture of Japan and is much visited for ritual purposes and hiking, with up to 15 million visitors annually.

Each of the three sites contains shrines, some of which were founded as early as the 9th century.

Source: Xinhua