The International Scientific Committee for Fortification and Military Heritage (ICOFORT), one of ICOMOS’s scientific committees, is responsible for the conservation and research of so-called military heritage, including castles, fortresses and fortified towns. It has been assessing the heritage value of such sites scattered across the globe, proposing conservation measures and promoting academic research. While its activities were initially centred on Europe and the Americas, in recent years it has been actively expanding its work to include East Asia.
Japan’s early modern castles are the focus of ICOFORT’s keen interest as a cultural heritage to be proud of on the world stage. The walled cities of China (Ming and Qing dynasties) and the capital cities of Korea (Joseon dynasty), built during the same period, are also subjects of heritage conservation and joint research with a view to World Heritage inscription, attracting international attention supported by public participation. Consequently, ICOFORT has planned the publication of a glossary of fortification terminology—a common manual for Japan, China and Korea—and work on this is currently proceeding vigorously.
To take this opportunity to open up Japan’s fortified cities to the world and promote exchange between experts and citizens on a global scale, it has been decided to hold the ICOFORT International Conference in Matsue this coming November. With the strong support of the three cities (Matsue, Inuyama and Matsumoto) that are home to National Treasure castle tenshus, we plan to exchange a wide range of views on issues relating to castles and fortifications from ancient times to the present day through a commemorative symposium and an academic conference, thereby deepening international exchange in this field. We also hope that participants will enjoy the Japanese castle heritage and landscapes distributed from Izumo to Shinano and Owari through the excursion.
Papers will be presented in accordance with standard academic conference procedures: interested parties should first submit an abstract, and those whose abstracts are accepted will then be invited to submit their full papers. We look forward to welcoming a wide range of participants.
Riichi Miyake, chairman
ICOFORT International Conference 2026 in Matsue Executive Committee
