The purpose of this paper is to estimate the function of the cult of the jizo-son toward the community reconstruction. This paper is based on the results of sampling research in Osaka city, in 1988. Our basic hypotheses are as follows: 1 ) the religious properties of the cult of the jizo-son are weakened and 2 ) the cult of the jizo-son can be useful for community reconstruction. We took some steps to examine facts and documents, the taken-for-grantedness of the value domain called "Cultural Property". It was in 1897 that the definition "National Treasure", the highest category of Cultural Property, was newly introduced by the Old Shrines and Temples Preservation Act. And it was this act that served as the basis for the present Cultural Properties Protection Act enacted in 1950. After analyzing 1 ) how the conception of "fine art" was interpreted in Japan over a thirty year period, from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until 1897, 2 ) why things with religious value became the objects of preservation, and 3 ) what kind of discussion was held in the Imperial Diet in approving the act, one conclusion seems clear. That is, that the value "National Treasure" was brought forth in order to meet two demands: the spiritual demand which was enhanced by the nationalistic trend of the time and the demand for the promotion of overseas trade to increase the national wealth.
　The birth of the National Treasure can be interpreted, from one side, as a symbolic example of the secularization of religion during the modernization process of Meiji Japan. But from the other side, it was a conversion of a religious symbol into a national symbol which was none the less sacred.