Michael Bumgardner is not only the general manager of Tokyo American Club; he's a "keeper of trees," as his ancestral German name Baumgartner suggests.
A few trees have had to come down to make way for the club's new temporary quarters in Shinagawa's Takanawa district, as piles of sawed-up logs awaiting clearance testify. But there are still plenty of beauties around, both in the grounds and over the wall, the remaining garden estate of Mitsubishi Kaitokaku, a Meiji Period mansion still owned by the company and used to host VIPs.
Making our way through trucks pouring concrete, and the baggy trousers and traditional tabi boots of construction workers at full stretch, Bumgardner leads the way into the sleekly contemporary red-white-and-blue building that will be TAC's home for the next two and a half years.