Riken Yamamoto claims megaprojects erode community life and risk leaving the capital with obsolete buildings
Pritzker Prize-winning architect Riken Yamamoto speaks at a press conference in Tokyo on Jan. 15. (Photo by Andrew Sharp)
ANDREW SHARP
January 18, 2026 09:00 JST
TOKYO — Pritzker Prize-winning architect Riken Yamamoto has warned that Tokyo’s current wave of large-scale urban renewal is failing residents and eroding the social fabric that once defined Japan’s capital.