Japanese baseball stadium where Babe Ruth wowed crowds at center of environmental debate

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A Japanese baseball stadium where Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx and Lou Gehrig played in 1934 when American stars went on tour is at the center of a climate battle in the country.

Meiji Jingu Stadium in Tokyo opened in 1926 and is currently the home of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The facility is in an area known as Meiji Gaien, a green patch in central Tokyo famous for an avenue lined with 150 ginkgo trees.

Ruth hit several home runs in front of 60,000 fans.

However, the stadium could be demolished along with a nearby rugby stadium to make room for skyscrapers and a shopping area. The stadiums would be moved elsewhere. 

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The Meiji Jingu Stadium in Tokyo on Oct. 19, 2010. The historic baseball stadium where Babe Ruth played could be demolished as part of a redevelopment plan. (Kyodo News via AP)

The entire plan has sparked a debate among government officials, residents and environmentalists.

"I really think we shouldn't sacrifice nature in order to get short-term economic growth," Natsuka Kusumoto, a university student who is against the redevelopment. "In order to stop global warming we have to face how to balance economic growth and nature conservation."

She added that developers, construction companies and Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike "don't hear the voice of the people who live in this town."

"Around this area in Jingu Gaien there are lots of trees that have been living for 100 years," she said. "They will cut the old trees in order to build skyscrapers or rebuild this baseball stadium."

The plan to move the baseball to a new location would put the facility against the ginkgo trees, which environmentalists claim will damage the complex root system and potentially kill or damage trees.

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People gather in front of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Sunday, April 9, 2023, as they protest the Meiji Jingu Gaien area redevelopment project. (AP Photo/Stephen Wade)

A poll last year showed about 69.5% were against the project, which could take 13 years to complete.

Rochelle Kopp, who runs a Tokyo management consulting company and is a leader of the protest movement, said an injunction to stop the preliminary work could be filed in the next few weeks.

Activists believe Koike has the power to cancel the project but has, instead, given developers the go-ahead to start the project.

Koike has said the number of trees in the area would increase from 1,904 to 1,998 through the redevelopment and that "green area" coverage could increase from 25% to 30%.

Kopp argued that not all trees are created equal.

"However, not all trees are equal. Huge 100-year-old trees provide significantly more CO2 sequestering and cooling effect than small new saplings," Kopp said.

Babe Ruth is safe during a game between American and Japanese all-stars at Meiji Shire Grounds, Tokyo, Japan, Nov. 21, 1934. ( Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images Studios)

Meiji Jingu Stadium is an artifact in baseball lore and one of four ballparks still standing where Ruth has hit a home run. Fenway Park, Wrigley Field and Koshien Stadium in Kobe, Japan, are the others.

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The Yakult Swallows have played there since 1964.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.