Gaps Between Principles and Practices in Heritage Strengthening: Assessment of a Conservation Project of a Japanese Monument

The paper discusses a recent conservation project of a heritage building in Japan. It was a brick masonry church. It has been designated as a Japanese important tangible cultural property. The project focused on seismic retrofitting. Taking this project as the case study, the present research is composed of three tasks. The first task outlines the principles of the conservation of monuments, referring to international charters and guidelines. Discussion is also made on approaches to the strengthening of heritage structures. Second, the case study was introduced with a focus on the seismic retrofitting. Third, the efficacy of the strengthening is evaluated by performing pushover analysis and nonlinear dynamic analysis (NDA). Numerical models were prepared by taking into account dynamic identification tests performed on the structures before and after strengthening. For the application of NDA, an accelerogram was generated from the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake (7.0 Mw) that occurred close to the church. The paper critically reviews a recent seismic retrofitting project and sheds the light on the issues of heritage strengthening for future successful conservation practices in seismic-prone regions.