Scandal-ridden site in Shinjuku up for public auction

Shinjuku Building 1
[Left] The foreclosed land. [Right] The former Shinjuku Building (now demolished) that stood on the site.
Located in a prime commercial zone near the south exit of Shinjuku Station is a notorious block of vacant land that has been at the centre of a well-known scandal.

Due to the messy history behind this land, most people had given up on the thought of ever seeing this site redeveloped. However, the land is being put up for public auction on February 17, 2015, by the Tokyo Tax Office with a minimum bid set at 2.19 billion Yen (18.5 million USD).

The Shinjuku Building Incident

The site was once home to the Shinjuku Building - a 12-storey multi-tenant building built in 1983 and demolished in early 2011.Read more

by Zoe Ward