The National Park System in Japan, which was established in 1931, has since given certain purposes and functions to National Parks according to the needs of the times. Similarly, the landscapes of designated National Parks have also changed with the times. The 12 National Parks designated in 1930s, a prewar era, were selected by a committee of specialists. This paper shows the selection process, using the documents of the Health and Medical Bureau of the Interior Department and certain minutes of related committees. The documents show us the evaluation of each candidate site on the basis of “the Selection Policy of National Parks” of the Department. Tsuyoshi Tamura, a key figure of the Bureau, evaluated landscapes from the viewpoint of natural science and looked upon what is spectacularly representative in terms of geomorphology and geology as the very landscapes suitable for National Parks. As a result, spectacular mountainous landscapes have since been mainly selected as National Parks in Japan.
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