In a city that is constantly changing, some residents are pushing back.
Plans to redevelop Jingu Gaien, a century-old park and sports center in central Tokyo, have met with stiff opposition from some concerned citizens. In one of his final acts before his death in March, the composer Ryuichi Sakamoto wrote to the governor opposing it. Haruki Murakami, Japan’s most famous novelist, has spoken out against it, warning "once something is destroyed, it can never be restored.”
The 1.31 square-kilometer (323 acre) area is home to the Yakult Swallows baseball team, the city’s rugby pitch and some 2,000 trees, most notably a 300-meter row of gingko trees that is an unmistakable Tokyo landmark. In a joint project between Mitsui Fudosan, Itochu, the Japan Sports Council and the landowners Meiji Shrine, the project envisions knocking down and rebuilding the baseball and rugby pitches, switching their locations and constructing two new skyscrapers, along with communal spaces.