"1. Introduction: Safeguarding ICH through a Designation System\nSimilar to other countries, the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of Korea, which embodies Korean cultural identity, is now facing the threat of transformation and disappearance as a result of rapid industrialisation and urbanisation over the last several decades. In light of this threat, Korea enacted institutional safeguarding measures for intangible cultural heritage beginning with the establishment of the Cultural Properties Protection Act in 1962. \nThe Cultural Properties Protection Act defines ICH as cultural manifestations of intangible nature with high historical and artistic significance, such as theatrical and musical performing arts as well as crafts and skills. The act, furthermore, distinguishes ICH into two different groups: Important Intangible Cultural Property, designated by the state, and Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage, designated by local or regional governments. The number of items listed as Important Intangible Cultural Properties was 7 in 1964, and by 2011, this amount expanded to 114, and the number of Provincial Intangible Cultural Properties is 446. \nThe overriding principle for all activities involved in protecting and managing cultural properties and reviving them as living culture is preserving these heritage elements in their original forms. \nHowever, in the case of ICH, due to their very nature of existing and being transmitted orally, they are especially vulnerable and endangered in today’s quickly evolving, industrialised and urbanised society. Ensuring their continuity over time is accordingly more challenging and requires active intervention. \nTherefore, state and local governments select and designate categories of ICH more severely threatened than others by the changing environment, and provide support for transmission activities by Holders and transmitters of skills and the arts to guarantee the continuity of traditions and the cultural identity of the nation. "

At present, there are 23 nationally designated urushi lacquerware production sites4) in Japan. Most of these regions are known for making everyday household items such as dishware. Urushi production sites exist all across the country, and have developed region-specific techniques that are adapted to the local environment and lifestyles. These techniques have been passed down by artisans.\nOn the other hand, urushi is also used in many traditional buildings. The urushi production sites involved in architectural applications are not limited to the abovementioned 23 areas. In recent years, there have been many instances of urushi reapplication during repair and restoration of buildings that are over 100 years old and nationally recognized as important cultural properties. This paper will summarize the current state of urushi application in repairing important cultural properties, and offer context to the issues raised in Japan’s domestic lacquer industry and supporting systems of production.

Singapore is a culturally diverse society and one of the most religiously diverse nations of the world, and the understanding of cultural practices aids in fostering dialogue and social cohesion in such a social context. This paper discusses the important role of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) in fostering a deeper appreciation of the commonalities and differences among people, particularly in an era where societies around the world are facing complex effects of social diversity, movements of people and the effects of globalisation. It highlights the efforts to safeguard ICH in Singapore through partnerships between government agencies, educational institutions and the community.

Chak-ka-yer or tug-of-war is one of the oldest traditional team games of Thailand. It is believed that chak-ka-yer derived from imitating the work of humans pulling a trolley with a heavy load, the behaviors of bulls, buffaloes, or elephants in pulling heavy things, and a Buddhist ceremony called Chak-Phra, in which a Buddha image is placed on a beautifully decorated cart and pulled in a procession so that people pay respect to the Buddha image as it rolled by.

This article briefly presents a framework designed to gauge the level of vitality or endangerment of music traditions and suggests how the tool can be used to inform music safeguarding activities across contexts. The framework is the Music Vitality and Endangerment Framework (MVEF), developed and first presented in my book Music Endangerment: How Language Maintenance Can Help (Grant, 2014). The MVEF draws inspiration from various language vitality assessment tools, particularly UNESCO’s Language Vitality Framework (2003). In the absence of any such tool for gauging music vitality or endangerment across contexts, the MVEF was developed to fill this gap.

Those familiar with Pakistan’s history can easily appreciate the range and variety of its hand-made textiles and the sight of a humble villager using them as everyday wear. The cloth weaving and dying tradition from the Indus Valley that originated roughly five thousand years ago has continued throughout the Middle Ages and has received a tremendous boost of encouragement with the onset of new technological developments and the introduction of new motifs while under Muslim rule.

Co-orgarnized by ICHCAP and Hue Monuments Conservation Centre (HMCC), this year’s Asia-Pacific ICH NGO Conference was held in Hue, Vietnam under the theme of ICH NGOs towards Sustainable Development of Communities.

Bangladesh Institute of Theatre Arts (BITA) is a non-government organization established in 1994. The organization works for safeguarding performing arts, crafts and oral traditions of marginalized and disadvantaged communities.

In the Magar community, there are many children’s games based on child psychology and connected to social norms and values. Some of these games are dramatization with the children taking on different roles. This structure means that there are no tools or materials needed to enjoy the games.

Prenatal education, or taegyo in Korean, is part of health care practices that pregnant women perform to deliver a physically and mentally healthy baby. The philosophy of prenatal education is based on the idea that a fetus is developing personality even before it comes out of the womb, and hence needs fetal education.

유네스코아태무형유산센터는 ICHNGO FORUM #HeritageAlive와의 공동협력으로 무형유산 종목도서인 리빙 헤리티지 시리즈 <전통악기>편을 발간하였습니다.\n\n다섯 번째 출판되는 리빙헤리티지 시리즈 <전통악기> 편은 아프리카, 아시아, 유럽의 사례를 소개하는 15명의 저자들의 원고를 담고 있습니다. 특히 저자들은 전승 위기에 처한 전통 음악의 현황을 공유하고, 2003년 협약이 강조하는 활성화 방안에 관하여 서술하고 있는데요, 음악이 가진 치유의 힘을 보여주는 책이라고 할 수 있습니다.