Aike P. Rots is Associate Professor of Asian Studies at the University of Oslo. His research interests include religion and the environment, ritual and sacred space, human–nature relations, and the politics of religion in contemporary East and Southeast Asia.Mark Teeuwen is Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Oslo. His field of research is the history of religion in Japan.

• Chapter 1 Heritage-Making and the Transformation of Religion in Modern JapanMark Teeuwen and Aike P. RotsChapter 2 The Politics of Japan’s Use of World Heritage: From Ratifying the World Heritage Convention to the Mozu–Furuichi Tumulus ClustersTze M. LooChapter 3 An Introduction to Multilateral Heritage Politics: Japan and the World Heritage ConventionHerdis HøllelandChapter 4 World Cultural Heritage and Women’s Exclusion from Sacred Sites in JapanLindsey E. DeWittChapter 5 Whose Sacred Site? Contesting World Heritage at Sēfa UtakiAike P. RotsChapter 6 What Does it Mean to Become UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage? The Case of aenokotoKikuchi AkiraChapter 7 Kyoto’s Gion Float Parade as Heritage: Between Culture, Religion, and FaithMark TeeuwenChapter 8 The Story Beyond UNESCO: Local Buddhist Temples and the Heritage of Survival in Regional JapanPaulina K. KolataChapter 9 Omissions, Stratagems, and Dissent: The Shikoku Pilgrimage and the Problems of Applying for World Heritage StatusIan Reader

"Following the introduction, eight case studies show how heritage (and religion) is negotiated and contested, politicized, and claimed. Recommended!"Isabelle Prochaska- Meyer, University of Vienna, Religious Studies Review