Usage patterns 〈 物もの 〉 を 文ぶん 化か 財ざい に 指し 定てい する to designate something as a cultural property
This temple has been designated a national cultural property.
文ぶん 化か 財ざい を 保ほ 護ご する to protect cultural properties
The government created a law to protect cultural properties.
文ぶん 化か 財ざい を 保ほ 存ぞん する to preserve cultural properties
Local residents are engaged in activities to preserve old cultural properties.
文ぶん 化か 財ざい が 失うしな われる for a cultural property to be lost (e.g. destroyed)
Valuable cultural properties were lost in the fire.
Kanji 文 sentence, literature, style 化 change, take the form of, influence Related words 文化遺産 is the broader term for cultural heritage, often used in global or UNESCO contexts, while 文化財 refers to specific items legally designated and protected under Japanese law.
文化財 is the broad legal category covering all protected cultural properties, while 天然記念物 names only the natural-heritage subset such as rare species or geological sites.
Don't confuse with 文化財 (cultural property) and 文化祭 (school culture festival) sound almost identical but refer to completely unrelated things.
伝統文化 describes traditional customs and arts as a living practice, while 文化財 refers to specific cultural properties or assets officially designated for protection.
文化財 means a cultural property or asset recognized domestically, whereas 世界遺産 is a site officially listed by UNESCO, so a 文化財 is not automatically a 世界遺産 .
Word family tangible cultural property
intangible cultural asset
Important Cultural Property
important intangible folk cultural property
Etymology Compound of 文化 (culture) and 財 (property, assets). The term became widely used after the enactment of the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties in 1950.
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