World Heritage Site
Parts of the mining town remain in good condition and the Japanese Government has designated it as a Special Preservation District for Groups of Historic Buildings in 1969. The government also applied for it to become a World Heritage Site. The bid succeeded in July 2007, although an evaluation of the site by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOSMOS) found no "outstanding universal value."
While the development of a silver mine usually requires large quantities of lumber, the development of Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine resulted in less ecological pollution because of proper control of logging. It was one of the reasons that Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine was selected as a World Heritage Site.
It was also selected as 100 greatest geological sites of Japan in 2007.
Read more about this topic: Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine
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