Nikization Threat to Tokyo's Miyashita Park

Nike seem to be on the verge of an horrendous own goal in their admittedly creative attempt to buy a run-down park in the middle of Tokyo.



Nike's Japanese subsidiary Nike Japan has arranged with the mayor of Tokyo's Shibuya ward to buy Miyashita Park, a haven for over 30 homeless people in tents and badly neglected for years, to buy the right to rebrand the park as Nike Park and renovate it into a space for sports including skateboarding and football. The deal will cost the sportswear giant a million Euros initially with three times that amount ploughed into the renovation.



The move has become controversial not for the company's plans to change the name - this is commonplace in Japan as it is in the USA - but because of the fact that the homeless people will be moved on, apparently with scant regard for their welfare.


Irregular Rhythm Asylum has posted the images you see here as funky protests against the move, while The Coalition to Protect Miyashita Park from Becoming Nike Park objects to the 'top down' imposition of the project and the lack of comeback for local residents.



The story has been picked up everyone from skating blogs like You Will Soon to Global Voices and The Observers, and I found it on Slamxhype and Hypebeast, ironically framed by a funky fireplace for Nike's Windrunner (see below).



As someone who isn't a resident of Shibuya (although I have been there a number of times) it's impossible for me to comment on the impact to the local community, but I suspect this might be a slightly different story were a smaller company than scary multinational giant Nike involved. Having said that, they should really know better and will do well to turn this round with an elegant solution to the problem of relocating the homeless element.

I would expect this might be the sort of situation to arise, although without the homeless controversy, around the redevelopment of East London ahead of the London 2012 Olympics. There is already a debate about the legacy of 2012 and the costs of maintaining the facilities after the games have gone, and corporate sponsorships would provide a solution that could prove beneficial to organisers, corporations and, most importantly (for I am one) local residents.