Stadium where Babe Ruth played in Tokyo is at the center of a disputed park redevelopment plan

TOKYO — Plans to demolish a historic baseball stadium where Babe Ruth played and an adjacent rugby venue are at the heart of a disputed park redevelopment in Tokyo that critics say trades history and greenery for commercial space.

The plan to remake the Jingu Gaien park area was approved 2 1/2 years ago by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Work clearing land has begun but opponents are still trying to stop the project, which could take a decade to complete.

A coalition on Wednesday presented an open letter to Toshiko Abe, the minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology, asking the project be reassessed.

It's signed by 368 experts — urban planners, architects and environmental scientists — and 1,167 others.

Honoring an emperor

The park area was established a century ago through public donations to honor the Meiji Emperor. At the heart of the issue is citizens' control of public space, and a potential conflict of interest with private developers and politicians deciding how valuable parcels are used.

The stadium oozes history and critics say building skyscrapers in the park space would never be allowed in Central Park in New York or Hyde Park in London.

Ruth and Lou Gehrig played at the stadium on a 1934 barnstorming tour. Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami was inspired to write his first novel while drinking beer and watching a game there in 1978. The stadium is still home to the Yakult Swallows baseball team and hosted a concert this week.

Lofty plans in place

Plans call for developers to build a pair of 200-meter (650-feet) towers and a smaller tower. The stadiums are to be rebuilt in the reconfigured space with the baseball stadium going where the rugby stadium now stands.

The open letter is critical of so-called private finance schemes that give private developers access to park space. Hibiya Park is Tokyo's oldest public park, another example of this approach.

Opposition to the Jingu redevelopment has included novelist Murakami, a conservancy group, and botanists and environmentalists who argue the sprawling project threatens 100-year-old gingko trees that grace the area's main avenue.

A global conservancy body ICOMOS, which works with the United Nations body UNESCO, has said the development will lead to ''irreversible destruction of cultural heritage'' with trees and green space being lost.

Strong lobby for the development

Opposition groups are pitted against powerful real-estate developer Mitsui Fudosan, the Shinto religious body, and Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike.

''The problem is that many Japanese citizens are not so much interested in democratically regulating their own city and are used to demolishing buildings,'' Kohei Saito, a Japanese political economist at Tokyo University, wrote to The Associated Press.

He said ''companies with political power try to maximize their short-term profits without consideration of Tokyo's attractiveness (history, culture), inhabitants' well-being and future generations.''

Zoning changes to allow high-rise buildings in the area were made around 2013 by the Tokyo government when the city won the bid for the 2020 Olympics. Many of those changes permitted building the neighboring National Stadium but also applied to the park area.

''The process of rezoning the area lacked transparency and democratic procedure and constitutes an illegal abuse of the governor's discretion in urban planning decisions,'' the open letter said.

The Jingu district was considered ''common property'' until after World War II when the government sold it to Shinto under a promise it would remain a common space.

The national government comes into play because the rugby venue is the property of the Japan Sport Council, a national government affiliated body. The rugby venue represents about 30% of the Jingu Gaien area.

Forthcoming election might help

Opponents hope the timing later this month of a national election might aid their cause with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba heading a minority government.

Former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has ties to the rugby venue.

In addition to serving two decades ago as prime minister, he is the former president of the Japan Rugby Football Union and also served as the president of the 2020 Olympic organizing committee until he was forced to resign after making sexist comments about women.

Opened in 1926, developers argue the baseball stadium is too old to save. However, Fenway Park in Boston dates from 1912 and Wrigley Field in Chicago from 1914. Both have been refurbished and are among the most venerated in the United States.

Meiji Kinenkan, a historic reception hall in Jingu Gaien, dates from 1881 and is still widely used with no calls for its demolition. Mitsui Fudosan's headquarters building in Tokyo dates from 1929. Koshien Stadium, located near Osaka, was built in 1924 and has been in use since a refurbishment.

The new rugby stadium would be an indoor venue with plastic grass, which players view as the least desirable surface for the sport.

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