時事通信社
菅義偉官房長官は9月17日の記者会見で、2015年夏の国連教育科学文化機関（ユネスコ）の世界文化遺産登録を目指して、福岡県の八幡製鉄所などを含む九州、山口県など計8県に及ぶ「明治日本の産業革命遺産 九州・山口関連地域」を推薦すると正式に発表した。
朝日新聞デジタルによると、「明治日本の産業革命遺産」は、八幡製鉄所（北九州市）や長崎造船所（長崎県）のほか「軍艦島」として知られる長崎市の端島（はしま）炭坑など現役の施設を含む28の資産で構成されている。幕末から明治にかけて日本近代化の原動力となった福岡や鹿児島など8県に広がる製鉄所や炭鉱などの施設をまとめて、産業遺産群として登録を目指す。
世界文化遺産登録は、九州ゆかりの2候補地が、政府推薦１枠をめぐって競り合っていた。文化庁が推薦した「長崎の教会群とキリスト教関連遺産」（長崎県・熊本県）と、内閣官房が力を入れていた「明治日本の産業革命遺産－九州・山口及び関連地域」。ともに「九州・山口初の世界文化遺産」となるが異なる省庁から推薦案件が出るのは初めてのことで、絞り込みは難航していた。
NHKニュースによると、菅官房長官は「いずれも甲乙つけ難いが『明治日本の産業革命遺産』は、日本がものづくり大国となる基礎を作った歴史を物語っている。また、釜石の遺産を含んでおり、わが国の最優先課題である復興支援にも大きく貢献する。さらに、世界に例のない稼動中の民間企業による大規模な工業関連施設の登録は、文化遺産の保全に新たなモデルを提示するものだ」と述べたという。
政府は、9月中にユネスコに暫定版の推薦書を提出し、2015年の世界遺産委員会で登録するかどうかを審査される見通しだ。
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