Unfortunately the developers and urban planners are at it again. With the destruction of doujunkai in Harajyuku and many other historical structures around Tokyo soon the few structures that survived the Kanto earthquake and WWII will be gone. The owners of the Sanshin building near Hibiya park (central Tokyo near kokyo/Imperial Palace) in conjunction with a group of developers have plans to demolish the building to make way for yet another urban office and shopping space.

For those that don't know the building is an awesome example of 1930s art deco pre-war architecture. In near mint original condition there are great small shops, restaurants and offices inside. The building has been featured in a number of movies. It's one of the few remaining old structures that surrounded the Imperial Palace area.

There is a group of people who have organized to try and save the building. I've included their URL below. It would be helpful to sign their petition and perhaps send some emails to Japanese consul offices around the US.

www.citta-materia.org/sanshin.php

www.citta-materia.org/sanshin.php

お名前＊: (name)
メールアドレス＊：(email address)
ご住所：(mailing address)
ご職業：(profession)
ご意見・ご感想： (thoughts and impressions about the building and the situation)
also here is the email add. you can email them.

To email the people trying to save the building: info_sanshin@citta-materia.org

Japanese consul office:

www.cgjsf.org/
www.la.us.emb-japan.go.jp/
ny.cgj.org/

There's a super cool cafe there...one of the coolest in Tokyo. It's still open now as of April but will soon close. If you have the chance please check it out while its still there. It's called the New World Cafe.