ABSTRACT
Under the shrinking social nature in Japan – ageing, depopulation and recession – urban heritage conservation is gaining preference over conventional development in her society. Tomo is one such historic town in the Seto Inland Sea in western Japan that has maintained connections with many historic port towns and maritime fishery villages for ages. In Tomo, a bridge construction and port development had been proposed for mitigating traffic congestion and improving functions of the port. After years of contestation between state authorities, pro-development agencies, conservation groups, and the local community, the construction proposal was eventually withdrawn, and a part of Tomo will now be included as a national preservation district. The withdrawal of development proposals has engendered conservation of Tomo’s urban heritage. This chapter first analyses the social background and development discourse in the Seto Inland Sea, Tomo Town and the region. It then re-examines the sequence of the development controversy in Tomo and various actors who were involved in the event. The chapter provides a view towards a new role of urban heritages to deal with shrinking social nature, which is likely an impending scenario in many of the Asia-Pacific societies.
