Administrative petitions are an effective way to make our concerns known to the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly!

Your help is needed gathering signatures!

On 3/23, an administrative petition to the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly regarding the redevelopment of the Jingu Gaien area was formally submitted by Ms. Naoko Nishikawa of Kenchiku Journal (an architecture related publication), titled "Petition Concerning the Preservation of the Historic Landscape and Environment of the Jingu Gaien Garden."

The term "administrative petition" (chinjohsho) may be unfamiliar so here’s some explanation. In Japan there are two ways to make a formal request to a governmental assembly, and they are called chinjoh and seigan.  The difference being that a chinjoh can be submitted by anyone, whereas a seigan needs to be introduced by a council member

Once a petition is submitted to and accepted by the assembly (in this case, the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly), it is referred to the relevant committee (in this case, the Urban Development Committee), which deliberates on the petition.

The petition submitted by Ms. Nishikawa will be taken up at the next meeting of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly in June.

The full text of the petition is pasted below. Written in a manner consistent with the administrative rules, it states, "we request that the detailed planning and implementation of the project be carefully handled so that the value of the Jingu Gaien and the feelings of the people who have been embedded in it can be passed on to the next generation intact.”, “Please protect the environment of the garden, including the trees ", and “We ask that you take this seriously, and only move forward with the redevelopment project after conducting a thorough investigation and verification, and offering sufficient explanations to the citizens of Tokyo and Japan."

The full content of the petition (my translation of the original Japanese) is pasted below.

Signatures may be added to the petition

Here's where you come in!

Ms. Nishikawa submitted the petition with the signatures of five sponsors. Additional names of people who support the petition can be added later. These are the signatures we are collecting this time. The more signatures we get, the more power this petition will have!

Signatures will be collected and submitted by the end of May in time for the June Metropolitan Assembly meeting.

This is something more we can do to protect the environment of Jingu Gaien.

At the very least please sign yourself and submit the petition. But if you can gather some other signatures too that would be great! (The more the merrier)

Thanks so much for helping with this!

How to sign the petition

Print out the signature form with the petition text below from this page https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ImTB_lSDBZrfAOYUo7LtRCWXbrjs-ree/view?fbclid=IwAR23NKZfzGOVKtG0NVsPnCSmrVk5eOweDsWqV0lcfuOwj6I3-Ac_TTx6Bms, and collect handwritten signatures (5 signatures per sheet). You can collect as many signatures as you would like.

(And yes this has to be on paper with handwritten signatures – there is no digital option.)

Please mail the signed sheets to the following address:

Naoko Nishikawa, Kenchiku Journal, Kyodo Bldg. 4F, 3-2-1 Iwamotocho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0032, Japan

Full text of the petition

Petition Concerning the Preservation of the Historic Landscape and Environment of Jingu Gaien

Submitted on March 23, 2022

To: Shigeki Miyake, Chairman of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly

The Jingu Gaien Garden is a historically significant cultural landscape in Tokyo. Please protect its trees and environment.

Meiji Jingu Shrine has both an "inner garden" (Naien) designed for "solemnity and dignity" and an "outer garden" (Gaien) designed for "public enjoyment". The Gaien, which is the subject of this urban planning project, was built with donations from all over Japan and abroad, including 3,190 donated trees of 54 species. Each of the donated trees represents the wishes of the person who donated the tree.

In 1926, when the construction was completed, it was designated as Japan's first official scenic zone, "Meiji Jingu Landscape Area in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Urban Planning Area" (Ministry of Home Affairs Notification No. 134), and its beauty and landscape have been handed down through the years as a gem of historical and environmental heritage.

With regard to the "Jingu Gaien District Plan" that has just been announced, we request that the detailed planning and implementation of the project be carefully handled so that the value of the Jingu Gaien and the feelings of the people who have been embedded in it can be passed on to the next generation intact.

We believe that the Meiji Jingu Outer Garden represents the modern era of Japan and is a cultural and cultural asset that is of high public interest and value to the international community.

Please protect the environment of the garden, including the trees, in light of the fact that it is a historical asset.

The redevelopment of Jingu Gaien has attracted attention and concern from all over Japan.

We ask that you take this seriously, and only move forward with the redevelopment project after conducting a thorough investigation and verification, and offering sufficient explanations to the citizens of Tokyo and Japan.

END