Tokyo - (AFP) - The Tokyo Municipal Council has approved a controversial plan to rehabilitate a neighborhood in the city center, as it includes the demolition of historic sports facilities and the uprooting of trees donated by citizens more than a century ago in honor of Emperor Meiji.

The project calls for the demolition of the Meiji Jingu baseball stadium, the oldest in Tokyo for this sport that is widely popular in Japan, in addition to other nearby sports sites, including the Shichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, and replacing them with new facilities.

The plan does not include a neighborhood on Jingu Gaen Street lined with ginkgo trees, prized by Tokyoites for their gorgeous golden-yellow leaves in fall.

But conservationists argue that the project's planned construction, including skyscrapers, could kill ginkgo trees by damaging their roots.

They pointed out that the project requires cutting down about 900 other trees, some of which were donated by citizens and planted more than a century ago, when this green oasis was established in honor of Emperor Meiji (1852-1912), who oversaw the rapid modernization of Japan.

Several popular petitions were prepared against the neighborhood rehabilitation project, one of which had more than 110,000 signatures.

But the governor of Japan's capital, Yuriko Koike, confirmed this week that the Jingu Gaen rehabilitation project will in fact increase the number of trees and green areas, preserving its historic spirit while looking to the future.