A slope with a view

Ko Sasaki / New York Times

There is a great story in yesterday’s New York Times on a small neighbourhood group in Tokyo, the  Society to Protect Nippori’s Fujimizaka, that are trying to preserve one of the capital’s last remaining views of Mount Fuji.  This is a classic David versus Goliath story, where a handful of OAPs from Nippori are struggling to preserve their beloved view of Fuji-san, which would would require “capping building heights within an elongated fan-shaped corridor three miles long and up to 1,000 feet wide” across the city, going up against the entire Tokyo property development world in the process. I love the absurdity of the idea of protecting a view in one of the world’s most densely populated cities and the thought of just what Tokyo might look like in 100 years if they succeed. Sadly, they have already lost 1/3 of their view to a 14-story apartment block, but I hope that they do manage to hold on to the remaining 2/3 for a few years yet.

Related posts:

1. Michael Wolf: Paris Street View
2. Mount Fuji