In Kanazawa, 100 historic townhouses are demolished each year
The historic merchant city of Kanazawa is seeing as many as 100 of its historic machiya-style townhouses demolished each year. And while there are efforts underway to preserve as many homes as possible, there are still some high hurdles that remain.
Modernist National Theatre to be demolished
The Japan Arts Council is moving forward on plans to demolish the National Theatre of Japan building in Chiyoda and replace it with a new theatre with a hotel on the upper floors.
Historic home matching service for Karuizawa
In an effort to save the historic holiday villas of Karuizawa, a matching-service has been set up by the Karuizawa Cultural Heritage Preservation Association.
Crowdfunding for Mitaka's most famous apartment building
The Reversible Destiny Lofts MITAKA (In Memory of Helen Keller) has started a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for repairs to the iconic apartment building.
One capsule, and maybe more, in Nakagin Capsule Tower Building to be saved
With demolition on the horizon, there are some glimmers of hope that at least one of the 140-odd capsules in the iconic Nakagin Capsule Tower Building might just be spared from the trash heap.
The goal of one of the preservation groups is to save capsule A-606, both the capsule unit itself and its original interior. There are also plans to build a custom trailer so that the capsule can be towed around to various locations, such as museums, galleries, and universities allowing Kisho Kurokawa’s legacy to be appreciated by all. The estimated cost just to save this one capsule and make it mobile is around 6.5 million Yen (approx. US$59,000).
Temple to be demolished and land sold
A temple in Aichi Prefecture will soon be demolished, ending 630 years of history.
Odakyu to demolish modernist department store in Shinjuku
On July 16, Odakyu Department Store Co., Ltd. announced that they will be closing their Shinjuku Main Store at the end of September 2022. This is to make way for a major redevelopment project on the western side of Shinjuku Station.