Developers begin cutting trees in Tokyo park that environmentalists want to protect

Another sad case of big business being able to run roughshod over anything and anybody. When will Japan realize that Tokyo doesn't need another ton of concrete structures but a livable space!

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What happened to Japan loves nature and all that?

The plan is backed by Tokyo Gov Yuiko Koike, who once was Japan’s environmental minister.

More and more skyscraper in Tokyo!

Is it the super special no CO2 concrete that's absolutely delicious?

The Supreme Court's Third Petty Bench, presided over by Judge Eriko Watanabe, has dismissed a special appeal filed by local residents seeking to halt the authorization of a redevelopment project planned for the Meiji Jingu Gaien area in Tokyo, which includes sports facilities like the National Stadium. The decision, dated the March 15th, upheld rulings by the Tokyo District Court and the Tokyo High Court, which rejected the appeal on the grounds that there was "no urgent necessity."

The majority opinion was supported by four out of the five judges. Judge Katsuya Uga issued a dissenting opinion, stating that it would have been appropriate to overturn the High Court's decision and return the case for further review.

The residents argued that their right to enjoy a favorable landscape would be infringed upon due to the felling of trees. However, the Tokyo District Court's decision ruled that "it is difficult to recognize that they would suffer significant damage," and the Tokyo High Court upheld this ruling.

Kyodo News

What happened to Japan loves nature and all that?

It became a rich and successful country by being able to balance environmental concerns with economic growth.

You posted that a few days ago, socrateos, in response to something I posted then. I am not sure of you interpret it as there is no case to answer on the part of the 'developers' or as evidence that the justice system tends to support authority and capital by default.

Ah, the supposed sophistication of the whatabout argument surfaces.

Japan loves new , so its natural to keep building new high rises .

I think that I shall never see

A corrupt Japanese politician as lovely as a tree.

(With apologies to Joyce Kilmer)

This sort of thing is so common here, one has to conclude that the majority of Japanese people actually don't like nature much at all.

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Only the population decline in Japan can really save the environment,

There are also plans to develop luxurious resorts in National Parks

Nature conservation is not the goal but monetization is

https://www.ntv.co.jp/englishnews/articles/2021ajceuedoyok5cpme.html

and in the west......

Two wrongs don't make a right.

Japan gave the world the concept of 森林浴 forest bathing for mental health, but this development drastically reduces the amount of free access greenery in central Tokyo.

Why does a country with a falling population need to build even more skyscrapers?

I love both nature and skyscrapers, a compromise between sides should be met.

I'd love to see Alex Kerr's take on this. He excoriated the concrete-loving, boondoggle-obsessed Japanese bureaucracy machine in "Dogs and Demons", and it seems like little has changed.

Course it probably helps when the country in question considers genuine protest to be めんどくさい.

The plan is backed by Tokyo Gov Yuiko Koike, who once was Japan’s environmental minister.

The irony of this has already been noted, but she's a former newsreader, so the ability to sell a lie is probably one of her strong points.

I would like to see's Alex Kerr's - An American- take on the toxic waste in Japan's drinking water by the American military. He is an epitome of foreigners in Japan. He loves to complain about Japan, but is quiet about his own country's failings.

I'd bet he knows more about Japan than you.

"Yeh lets make central Tokyo more concentrated and build upward, what we need is yet more sky scrapers"

Why does a country with a falling population need to build even more skyscrapers?

"I owe my sempai Tamura-san a favour from elementary school and he's now a big-shot property developer, so I will sell my soul to make sure he gets the contract to put up another 45-storey building in the middle of what used to be a rather picturesque area".

That's why I never understand people wanting to live in the heart of the city.

No trees, rampant pollution, no clean air, overpriced rents and huge taxes.

With the implementation of remote work, living outside the city never seems better.

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They paved paradise, put up a parking lot 

With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin' hot spot

They took all the trees put 'em in a tree museum 

And they charged the people 150 yen just to see 'em

Tokyo is already a depressing place, full of concrete and they want to add more?

DanteKHToday 09:55 am JST

That's why I never understand people wanting to live in the heart of the city.

It depends on your job, sometimes you have no other choice.

There are too many people living in Tokyo and around. The same problem in many other large cities worldwide.

After my retirement, 65 year old, I (from Europe) and wife (Japanese) moved out of the Tokyo area to a much smaller city and bought a very comfortable condominium unit nearby, about 6 km outside in the suburbs.

Much nicer than in Tokyo - with forests and a river nearby and by far better air and much less traffic. Real estate in smaller cities in Japan is about 3 to 4 times cheaper compared to Tokyo.

Japan is not everywhere the same, there is a lot of nature outside of the large Japanese cities, plenty of free space - but unfortunately because of my work we could only move after my retirement.

Modern Japan has a strange relationship with nature. It seems to consist mostly of cutting down trees, covering the coastline in concrete and destroying what can profitably be destroyed. Money is all that matters.

Tokyo is already a depressing place, full of concrete and they want to add more?

I was in London a while back and I was amazed how much greenery there seemed to be compared to Tokyo.

The protesters are holding a sign that says, "Do not destroy our park!" This park, in fact, is a private property, belonging to the Meiji Shrine—a private religious organization.

Modern Japan has a strange relationship with nature. It seems to consist mostly of cutting down trees, covering the coastline in concrete and destroying what can profitably be destroyed

Also partly a result of an educational style based removing all independent thought and hammering home that the good citizen shuts up, never causes a fuss, works hard, and Buys Stuff.

Understand their feelings totally. The Sakura trees in my neighborhood have gradually disappeared over the last two decades. Sometimes removed due to "progress" other times for reasons unknown.

The local reaction? "Shoganai"

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They have done this lately in our area, all of the parks have had at least half the trees cut down. as if there isnt enough grey concrete already

It's just some trees. Not every tree in this world is sacred. Deforestation in the Amazon is a real problem. This is not. Redevelopment isn't automatically evil. Posters on this site live in houses or apartments. They take trains to the city. They ride bicycles on the street. What was there before? Trees.

Selective outrage seems to be a hobby for some.

Japan is being ruined by its real estate industry. Tokyo has morphed into an endless supply of glassy towers with meaningless names like "XXX Midtown" (copying New York), "XXX Hills" (copying Beverly Hills), and with each new project, Tokyo becomes a more bland and boring city to live in and visit. The massive developments have decimated the small back streets and alleys that Tokyo is famous for that grew organically. The govt has done everything to support these companies and allow them to run rough shod over the green spaces of Tokyo and make tiny meaningless "parks" as a quid pro quo for "bonus FAR" (additional buildable area). It's all a giant scam that is not helping Japanese people and only makes their lives more expensive. Simply put, it was better before this real estate bubble that started with Abenomics and that bubble needs to be popped, once and for all.

I live on a danchi way out in the suburbs and spoke to someone on the management committee who said that not a week goes by without demands from residents to cut down trees (because of fear of insects, leaves blowing onto balconies, etc). Really, if most people here had their way, there wouldn't be a single tree left standing in Tokyo. And they are pretty much getting there.

Depressingly easy to believe.

I remember reading "Dogs and Demons" by Alex Kerr, before I even came to Japan, and thinking "surely this guy must be exaggerating a bit". Couldn't have been much more wrong (I cite from his book below)

In 1996, NHK television produced a documentary reporting on the difficulties of growing trees in residential neighborhoods in Tokyo. One neighborhood had a stand of keaki (zelkova),which grow tall, with graceful soaring branches resembling the stately elm trees that once marked the towns of New England.

Residents complained that the trees blocked the sunlight, shed too many leaves in autumn, and obscured road signs. Many wanted the trees chopped down altogether, but after discussion the city of Tokyo reached a compromise in which it cut down some of them and pruned the tall, arching branches off the rest,reducing them to the usual pollarded stumps found along streets all other parts of the city.

Not many young people amongst very few protesters.

The plan is backed by Tokyo Gov Yuiko Koike, who once was Japan’s environmental minister.

The irony

not a week goes by without demands from residents to cut down trees (because of fear of insects, leaves blowing onto balconies, etc

A new one is apparently that the trees provide roosting places for gray starlings in winter and so too much noise when they gather in the evening and then fly off in the morning.

Countries are called developed but in what way? People with money can literally do what they want and seem almost above the laws others have to abide to. Destruction of more nature isn’t very progressive is it.

@Some dude

Tokyo is already a depressing place, full of concrete and they want to add more?

I was in London a while back and I was amazed how much greenery there seemed to be compared to Tokyo.

I was in Beijing recently, and I was amazed at how much greenery there was there compared to Japanese cities. No kidding! 100% electric cars too, so clean air as well. I could go on at length about this, but it would raise my blood pressure. J-city = concrete desert. Put that in your textbooks, MEXT.

@Some dude

"the usual pollarded stumps found along streets all other parts of the city".

Well put. Substitute "all cities in the country" for "the city" and you have a perfect summation of the situation. Have you ever been to Nagoya or Kita Kyushu? If you see a single tree anywhere above head height it feels like winning the lottery. These people are environmental vandals who call themselves nature lovers. Yes, that's right. The truth hurts.

Well, it's all for the progress of the city, anyway, if you cut down a tree for a just reason, you can plant more of it. No drama here

Tokyo is already a depressing place, full of concrete and they want to add more?

NO, Tokyo is one of the best cities of the world, full of thousands of things to do..

A good city but full of concrete.

Have you ever been to Tokyo?

I live on a danchi way out in the suburbs and spoke to someone on the management committee who said that not a week goes by without demands from residents to cut down trees (because of fear of insects, leaves blowing onto balconies, etc). Really, if most people here had their way, there wouldn't be a single tree left standing in Tokyo. And they are pretty much getting there.

I live in Tokyo and we have lots of of trees in our neighborhood and nobody is demanding to cut down the trees.

I live in Tokyo and we have lots of of trees in our neighborhood and nobody is demanding to cut down the trees.

How would you know? Are you monitoring the phone calls of everyone in your neighborhood to the local government office? In any case, you must live in an area with limited appeal to "developers" (for the moment).