Famous cafes in famous locations to disappear from Kamakura? Owners are displeased with “such inconsistent reasoning…

Many city council members as well as Kurihara City Council members are of the opinion that “fair and careful consideration should be given” to this issue. However, Takashi Matsuo, 50, mayor of Kamakura, said at a press conference in May,

He stated, “The trigger is the lack of earthquake resistance, but I would also like to review the situation in which prime sites are given priority. While changing the rationale from “lack of earthquake resistance” to “reviewing the use of city-owned land,” the mayor has been flaunting his stance of pushing for the eviction and demolition of the building.

In response to the mayor’s statement, President Yoshizawa said, “At first, the seismic inspection showed that the building was ‘inadequate,

At first, he said, “The seismic inspection told us to leave because the building was noncompliant, but before we knew it, the story changed drastically, and he said, “We have been renewing the lease every year on an exclusive basis. The situation is not so good, so you should move out. Why is the city forcing us to leave with such inconsistent reasoning? What kind of a head of government would do such a thing?

On the other hand, the Kamakura City Green Parks Department insists that the reason for the eviction has not changed, and that the building’s earthquake resistance is still insufficient.

The steel-framed portion of the building was found to be not earthquake resistant, with an Is value of only 0.43, compared to the standard value of 0.6, indicating that the building is not earthquake resistant. Therefore, there was a risk that the steel-framed section would collapse in the event of a major earthquake, and in that case, there was concern that human casualties could occur, since most of the seating was located in the steel-framed section. It is not reasonable to continue the existence of the rest house (Venus Cafe) even after investing new capital in earthquake-proofing and other reinforcements and repairs, and it is not fair to continue to allow one person to use it exclusively due to changes in the environment.

What is the city’s assessment of the tourist and cultural value of the Venus Café? I asked,

He answered categorically, “We do not value it.

The city of Kamakura has asked us to operate the café as a rest house, and that is why it has been in existence for over 70 years. There are other park-benefit facilities, but they have conducted an earthquake-resistance assessment only for the Venus Cafe. If there is a plan for this area, it is not enough if there is no concrete plan, but I wonder how they are forcing us to evict them without a concrete plan. There was a large discrepancy between the Venus Cafe and Kamakura City’s seismic diagnosis results, and in March of this year, the Venus Cafe filed a lawsuit against the City of Kamakura. The fact that Kamakura City decided to file a lawsuit in June without waiting for the results of that lawsuit may be considered bullying of the weaker party,” said Kurihara.

I hope that the “Shonan Heritage” will continue to be active on location, etc. …….