Eric Babar Zerrudo /Philippines

Portrait of Eric Babar Zerrudo

Country Republic of the Philippines
Title　　 Executive Director, National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA)
Duration　　 October 20th – October 29th, 2025
Places of stay Tokyo, Ibaraki, Gifu, Kyoto, Nara, Wakayama, Osaka
Visits and meetings World Heritage Studies Degree Program of University of Tsukuba, Yanaka-no-Mori (Former Yanaka Residence), The University of Tokyo, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Shirakawa-go (Shirakawa Village Board of Education Secretariat), Agency for Cultural Affairs, Daitokuji Temple Hojo (Restoration Site), Kinkaku-ji Temple, Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings, Nara Prefecture Historical and Cultural Complex, Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range, Wakayama Prefecture World Heritage Center, Secondhand Bookstore District in Osaka (Order of visit)

Report

Dr. Zerrudo, who leads the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) as Executive Director, spent approximately ten days visiting World Heritage Sites in Japan, as well as organizations responsible for their management and operation, research institutions and scholars, and cultural government agencies. Through dialogues and exchanges, he built various important networks that will lead to future collaborations and interaction between the Philippines and Japan.

Reflecting on his ten-day activities, Dr. Zerrudo comments as, “The program opened objective, honest and critical dialogue that could initiate value added policies, programs and projects to the Philippines”. We hope that the connections developed through these dialogues will lead to further international and interdisciplinary cooperation between the Philippines and Japan, both of which share and face common issues in preserving and restoring cultural heritage from disasters such as climate change and earthquakes, and that the value and significance of cultural heritage will be widely conveyed across generations and around the world.

Two men in suits are standing side by side in front of a monitor
With Prof. UEKITA Yasufumi of the World Heritage Studies Program of University of Tsukuba

A man with his arms outstretched is talking across a desk with a JF director.
Courtesy call on Mr. FURUYA Masato, executive vice president of JF

Several people are looking at a house with a thatched roof.
Visit to Shirakawa-go

A man listening to an explanation of an exhibit inside the facility
At the Nara Prefecture Historical and Cultural Complex

Two men sitting in chairs with the Agency for Cultural Affairs logo on the back panel in the background
With Mr. ITO Gakuji, Deputy Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs

資A man listens to a staff member across a long table with food on it.
Visit to the Agency for Cultural Affairs

Men listening to a talk around a diorama set up at a round table
Visit to the Wakayama Prefecture World Heritage Center

A man carrying a backpack on an old road surrounded by cedar trees
Inspection of the Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage Routes

Press Release (in Japanese)

https://www.jpf.go.jp/j/about/press/2025/039.html

Highlights from the visits to different places

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