JAXA has begun a project to observe World Heritage Sites from outer space using the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) and formed a partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which continually works to protect World Heritage.
The eyes of ALOS
This page explains how ALOS observes World Heritage from space.
JAXA Eco Report
The JAXA Eco Report describes JAXA's activities in the fields of society and the environment.
The Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) was launched in 2006 and finished its mission on May 12, 2011. This mission is being taken over by the ALOS-2 and ALOS-3 satellites. We spoke with Yuji Osawa about the special features of these successors, which are equipped with cutting-edge Japanese technologies, and the roles they are expected to play.
Koïchiro Matsuura served as Director-General of UNESCO from 1999 to 2009, making efforts to resolve a variety of different issues during that period. From 1998 to 1999 he was Chairperson of the World Heritage Committee, which was the beginning of his encounters with World Heritage in the midst of a constantly changing world situation. In this interview, we asked him what is important when protecting World Heritage.
Eyes from space, eyes from land
Yoshio Tomii, photographer of World Heritage Sites
Yoshio Tomii has been trekking across the world, photographing townscapes, natural beauty, and the lives of people, for over thirty years. After gaining an interest in World Heritage, he began photographing them and has taken pictures of 379 different sites. In this interview, he describes journeys that have left a particularly strong impression on him and his feelings towards World Heritage.
