Debate is heating up between Japan Post Holdings and the internal affairs ministry over whether to raze or preserve a landmark building in front of JR Tokyo Station.

The building is the five-story Tokyo Central Post Office, a 78-year-old structure Japan Post wants to transform into a 38-story skyscraper wrapped in the mail building's preserved facade.

Internal affairs minister Kunio Hatoyama thinks the building has too much cultural value to be destroyed. But what is its real worth, and will canceling the demolition affect the privatization of Japan Post?