It’s a narrative that might have sprung straight from the script of a Studio Ghibli movie or, perhaps, a Joni Mitchell song. Big corporations and government interests unite to raze trees, demolish a beloved park and commercialize a communal area — all in the name of profits, in the face of local opposition and even against the dying wishes of a beloved national treasure.
The redevelopment of Jingu Gaien, a green oasis in Tokyo’s city center, has been dividing opinion for years. Protesters decry the planned rebuilding of its baseball and rugby stadiums, which they say will result in the destruction of “thousands” of trees. But like many compelling stories, this is mostly fiction.
The park dates back a century to the construction of Meiji Shrine, proposed by Eiichi Shibusawa, the “father of Japanese capitalism” who last week debuted on the new design of Japan’s largest banknote. Since I first wrote about the redevelopment last year, the debate has intensified. A Unesco-affiliated body has raised opposition, the Supreme Court rejected an injunction to stop work and it became a battleground in the recent Tokyo governor election, where an opposition-backed candidate pledged to put the project to the people in a first-ever referendum.