Tokyo’s Tree-Raising Drama Shouldn’t Stymie Transformation

Residents are raging over a redevelopment plan. But while other cities become stuck in time, the Japanese capital’s best projects can capture the spirit of the past and combine it with the hope of the future.

In a city that is constantly changing, some residents are pushing back.

Plans to redevelop Jingu Gaien, a century-old park and sports center in central Tokyo, have met with stiff opposition from some concerned citizens. In one of his final acts before his death in March, the composer Ryuichi Sakamoto wrote to the governor opposing it. Haruki Murakami, Japan’s most famous novelist, has spoken out against it, warning “once something is destroyed, it can never be restored.”