The Cultural Affairs Agency is considering making the remains of Japan's first railroad embankment a designated historical site, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
The remains of the Takanawa embankment were unearthed in an area in front of Takanawa Gateway Station in Minato Ward, Tokyo, where East Japan Railway Co. plans to develop commercial facilities. JR East announced the discovery last year.
The agency aims to have the embankment deliberated by the Council for Cultural Affairs as early as this summer, according to sources. Normally, it takes several years to finalize a decision to designate a historical site. However, the council will proceed at an unusually fast pace due to the value of this site, which dates from the early days of the railroad network of the Meiji era (1868-1912).
The embankment served as the foundation for Japan's first railroad tracks, which opened in 1872 between Tokyo's Shimbashi area and Yokohama. Back then, the area was under the sea, and the embankment was built in shallow waters.
Of the 800 meters of the embankment's remains, about 120 meters of the dike will be considered for designation as a historic site. That section was partially hollowed out to form a bridge to allow ships to come and go, and is considered to be the most valuable segment among the unearthed remains.
JR East has announced a plan to preserve the site.
After an academic survey is conducted to assess its value, whether to designate that section as a historic site will be determined based on a report by the council, which is an advisory body to the education, culture, sports, science and technology minister.
A subcommittee of the council has already submitted its own report to the agency, in which it said the Takanawa embankment deserves to be designated as a national historic site.
-- Suga visits site
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Saturday visited the site of the embankment.
"It's important to pass this site on to the next generation," Suga said. "Various procedures are probably necessary at the education ministry, so I hope the people in charge will work hard on them."
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