In the first picture, a bus campaigning for the Japanese government's effort to have the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo included in the list of World Heritage Sites (it's the only building in Japan designed by Le Corbusier).
And in the second, another bus, a few weeks later celebrating that the museum finally made it to the list. And the rest of us remain with the question: what is this permanent anxiety of the Japanese to have as many things they can in this list? My personal explanation is that they believe that when something becomes official, it gains more value -this, I imagine, is the reason that countless people and things that aren't in UNESCO's catalogs are in similar catalogs of national, prefectural or municipal level. What's funny is that I have never heard any visitor from any country caring if something has or hasn't been designated a "treasure" which means that all this effort is, practically, for nothing.
(For a bigger version of these pictures both in color and black and white, check my "Japan Arekore" set on Flickr)
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