Sensoji, the Buddhist temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district, and a group of local residents filed a lawsuit Thursday in a bid to bring the just-started construction of a skyscraper in the neighborhood to a halt.
In the lawsuit filed with the Tokyo District Court, the plantiffs are seeking the cancellation of approval by the Tokyo metropolitan government of the construction of a 133-meter-high, 37-story condominium being built several hundred meters west of the temple, a popular tourist spot.
"If systems regarding urban development are abused to allow haphazard construction of large-scale buildings, it would cause a rapid change in the atmosphere of the town and impair the temple's dignity," Sensoji said in a statement.
The plaintiffs said they are not opposed to the construction of the condominium itself, but are trying to nullify a type of permission the metropolitan government gave to the condo project.
They said they believe high-rise buildings should not be built by applying for this type of permission, which can ease existing rules on the height and floor-area ratio of buildings.
The condo construction, planned by Towa Real Estate Development Co. and undertaken by Fujita Corp., began earlier this month. It is scheduled to finish in 2012.---www.breitbart.com
