Japan Bar Association urges Tokyo to halt park development

The Japan Bar Association has urged the Tokyo metropolitan government to suspend controversial redevelopment of a beloved park area in the city, saying the developer’s environmental assessment lacks objective and scientific basis.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government approved the Jingu Gaien redevelopment project in February 2023 based on the environmental assessment report submitted by the developer, allowing construction to begin.

The plan includes razing a famous baseball stadium and rebuilding it as part of a massive construction project that critics say will threaten thousands of trees in a city with little green space.

Hundreds of outside experts, including architects, environmentalists and academics, have called for a halt to the project through open letters and petitions.

The developers are real estate companies Mitsui Fudosan, Meiji Jingu Shrine, Itochu Corporation and the government-affiliated Japan Sports Council.

In the latest opposition to the project, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations issued a statement on Thursday in which the lawyer groups said the environmental assessment lacked sufficient data and used wrong research methods.

In one instance, the developer’s report made no mention of the condition of the ginkgo trees, even though a U.N.-affiliated environmental group found their health had deteriorated in the area, the statement said. Environmentalists say high-rise buildings as part of the development would be too close to nearby ginkgo trees.

In addition, the Bar Association said that the Japanese branch of ICOMOS had issued a “heritage alert” for the Tokyo Gaien area but was never invited to participate in an environmental assessment meeting.

“We do not believe the report is objective or scientific,” the statement said.

It urged the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to suspend the project and require the developer to resubmit an environmental assessment report and have it reviewed by a panel of expert investigators.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike told a news conference on Friday that she was unaware of the details in the bar association’s statement, but defended the metropolitan government’s proper approval of the development plan in 2023.

Although the Tokyo government never formally suspended the project, developers voluntarily delayed parts of the project, including cutting down trees, presumably due to protests. Lead developer Mitsui Fudosan said it was re-examining the project’s impact on nearby ginkgo trees and working to improve transparency and communication with the public.

The bar association also noted that respected organization the International Association for Impact Assessment had urged the Tokyo governor to halt the project in June 2023, but the call was ignored.