Hiraizumi in northeast Japan to be World Heritage site

HIRAIZUMI, Japan – Photo taken May 7, 2011, shows the garden of Motsuji, a Buddhist temple, in Hiraizumi, Iwate Prefecture. The Japanese government said the same day that an advisory panel to UNESCO has recommended registering the historic area in northeastern Japan and the Ogasawara Islands off Tokyo as World Heritage sites. (Kyodo)