Tall & Urban News

The iconic Nakagin Capsule Tower building in Ginza is reaching the final stages of its saga as the capsule owners have voted in favor to sell off the building and land leasehold rights. The few remaining residents will move out in the coming weeks, leaving the dystopian landmark awaiting an uncertain fate. 

On April 21, 2021, the Mainichi Shimbun reported that owners association obtained necessary votes in favor of selling the land, or the leasehold rights since the land is under the old leasehold system. Typically, this would require 100 percent of apartment owners to agree, but exemptions can be made for buildings that don't meet current earthquake safety codes that can reduce the required vote to 80 percent. 

Based on the limited information reporting in the newspaper, it seems like a buyer for the building and land has yet to be found, leaving open the slim possibility that a buyer could come forward to rescue the building. The cost of restoring the dilapidated and unsafe structure and bringing it up to code has been prohibitively expensive, and adding additional fire escapes may be impossible with this design. Potential buyers that have appeared in the past have all backed away once they had an idea of the costs involved. The more likely scenario is that a developer will tear it down and redevelop the prime land. 

Even replacing the capsules one-by-one, as originally planned by the architect, is not as easy as it seems. To remove a capsule on a lower floor would require moving all the capsules above it. Ideally the capsules were to be replaced ever 25 years, as Kurokawa envisioned. However, not a single capsule has been replaced in the 50 years since its completion. 

For more on this story, go to Japan Property Central.