Staff writer
KYOTO -- Demolition crews moved in Wednesday to begin tearing down a traditional Japanese villa built in the Taisho Era despite a promise the owner made three days earlier to postpone the work due to opposition from surrounding residents.
Workers set themselves up in front of the gate of Tateishi Villa, in the eastern part of the city of Kyoto near Heian Jingu shrine, in preparation for razing the nearly 80-year-old complex, which will be replaced with a modern apartment building.