Japan plans to recommend two sets of materials -- photos and videos of Hiroshima after the 1945 atomic bombing and ancient Buddhist scriptures -- for inclusion in UNESCO's documentary heritage list.

Entries into the UNESCO Memory of the World Register are decided every two years. The next screening will be in 2025.

Officials of relevant ministries and agencies met on Tuesday to select two candidate items from Japan.

One is a set of visual materials of Hiroshima after the atomic bombing. The city of Hiroshima, NHK and several other news organizations jointly made the application.

The materials include 1,532 photos depicting the mushroom cloud and the devastation on the day of the blast, as well as two videos, including some news footage. The photos and videos were taken between August 6 and December 31, 1945.

The officials say those rare photos should be preserved for people across the world to understand what happened after the atomic bombing and to not allow it to happen again.

A set of woodblock prints from the 12th and 13th centuries of about 12,000 Buddhist scriptures is the second submission. The scriptures have been stored at the Zojoji Temple in Tokyo.

Officials say the scriptures helped establish the basis of Buddhist studies. They say the rare and diverse content also contributed to studies in various fields, including history and linguistics.