Protesters demand that Japan save 1000s of trees by revising a design plan for a popular Tokyo park
Dozens of demonstrators against a divisive plan to redevelop a beloved Tokyo park are forming a human chain outside the Japanese Education Ministry to demand a revision TOKYO -- Protesters in Tokyo formed a human chain Sunday to demand the government save thousands of trees by revising its plan to redevelop a popular downtown park. Demonstrators, many wearing green shirts and holding up signs saying, “Save Jingu Gaien," demand ed the Education Ministry take action even though the landowner is one of its agencies. Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike approved the plan in February, a move that would allow developers — real estate company Mitsui Fudosan, Meiji Jingu shrine, Itochu Corp. and the ministry-affiliate Japan Sports Council — to build a pair of 200-meter (650-foot) skyscrapers and an 80-meter (260-foot) tower. That would require cutting down nearly 3,000 trees at Jingu Gaien, one of Tokyo's most historic and beloved green areas. The plan would also raze and rebuild a historic b