Some of the facilities at the Nagasaki Shipyard of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) are likely to be designated as a world cultural heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO). They are among the 23 ”sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution” recommended for designation by UNESCO’s International Council on Monuments & Sites (ICOMOS). The list contains four facilities at MHI’s Nagasaki Shipyard, comprising No.3 dock and cantilever cranes still in operation, the now-defunct wooden mold factory and the Senshokaku Guest House. Their designation can be another turning point for MHI, which earlier in 2015 has spun off the Nagasaki yard as a separate subsidiary.
The recommendations by ICOMOS are seen sure to be endorsed at its next meeting to be held in Germany in July.
The Nagasaki Shipyard’s No.3 dock is a repair dry dock completed in 1905. The facility including its drainage pumps installed at the time is still in active service. Its cantilever crane installed in 1909 is also still in operation to hoist ship propellers. It was selected in 2014 for inclusion in the cultural property electronic data compiled by the Scottish government.
The former wooden mold factory is a red brick building. The oldest structure at the yard is currently used as a museum. Senshokaku Guest House is a two-story Western-style building completed in 1904. MHI still uses it as a guesthouse.
ICOMOS has also recommended for designation MHI’s Kosuge repair yard (commonly known as “soroban (abacus) dock” for its appearance). It is Japan’s first Western-style dock operated with steam engines.
MHI’s all designated facilities except the wooden mold factory and Kosuge repair yard are currently not open to the public because they are in active service. MHI said, ”We will consider opening them to the public when their designation has become formal.”
