World Heritage refers to properties and sites registered on the World Heritage List that is compiled based on an international treaty, the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO in 1972 and enacted in 1975. They include cultural and natural properties considered to be of outstanding value to humanity and belong to all the peoples of the world. As of 2021, 1,154 properties held by 167 state parties were registered on the World Heritage List. World Heritage sites, transcending national borders and recognized as the shared heritage of humanity, have an overwhelming power and beauty that mandate a personal visit. In this edition of Mitsubishi Monitor, we are introducing several of these must-see World Heritage Sites.

Year of registration: 1995
These historic mountain villages, located in the remote Sho River valley stretching across the border of Gifu and Toyama prefectures in central Japan, have over 100 Gassho-style farmhouses (with steeply pitched thatched roofs) of various sizes which are still inhabited. Sunken in the deep snows of winter, the houses present a hushed sight which is as fantastic as it is beautiful. Illuminated for a few days each winter, the villages are a popular tourist destination.

Year of registration: 2007
The Rideau Canal connects Canada's capital city of Ottawa to Lake Ontario and to the Saint Lawrence River at Kingston. A little over two hundred kilometers long, it is the oldest canal in North America. The canal freezes over in winter, transforming itself into the Skateway rink which, at 7.8 kilometers in length, is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest naturally frozen ice-skating rink in the world.

Year of registration: 2000
The whole of the center of the city, with its medieval architecture, is designated a World Heritage Site in its own right. It also contains two separate World Heritage properties: the Princely Beguinage Ten Wijngaerde (a historical women’s religious community) and the Belfry of Bruges. The snow-covered cobblestone streets lining the canal present a scene straight from a picture book.

Year of registration: 1981
Located in southwest Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, Los Glaciares National Park ranks as the world’s third largest glacier region, after the Antarctic and Greenland. Even as global warming sees glacial retreat around the world, the Perito Moreno Glacier is actually growing 700 meters a year, and, along with the 60-kilometer Upsala Glacier and other ice formations, presents a truly stunning landscape.