About

Who We Are

Save Jingu Gaien is a non-profit volunteer organization started in 2022 by Tokyo residents dedicated to protecting the area from an ill-conceived redevelopment project led by real estate developer Mitsui Fudosan, Itochu Corporation and Meiji Jingu Shrine. In preserving parks in Tokyo where humans and trees coexist, we express our commitment to passing down to future generations the possibility of leading joyful, healthy lives within resilient communities. We invite you to join us in our efforts to expand the public commons which enriches us all.  A century ago, the trees of Jingu Gaien spoke to the Japanese people. Let’s heed the vital message that they tell us today.

Problems with the Redevelopment Project

The Tokyo metropolitan government rushed through the approval process behind closed doors with no opportunity for public participation. As details have emerged, however, ICOMOS, an NGO dedicated to cultural preservation, has found the environmental assessment to be riddled with errors. Tokyo residents have similarly voiced overwhelming disapproval.

Unless stopped, the redevelopment threatens to remove thousands of trees and endanger 4 famous rows of Ginkgo in order to tear down and replace the area’s historic baseball and rugby stadiums and clear ground for three high-rise buildings. Replacing trees with sky-scrapers would worsen the heat island phenomenon common to metropolises while irrevocably reducing the capacity of Tokyo to mitigate the extreme weather events that scientists warn will grow in frequency and intensity in the coming decades. If short-sighted powerful economic interests prevail over the will of local residents and defy the scientific consensus on the urgent need to rewild urban spaces, Jingu Gaien and parks throughout Japan will be at risk of being transformed into glittering wastelands of steel and concrete.  A better future is within our grasp.