Yomiuri: Tokyo Station restoration open for bids
U.S. complaints to the government have forced East Japan Railway Co. to include non-Japanese construction companies in the bidding for a 50 billion yen project to restore Tokyo Station to its original 1914 design...Restoration of the dome-shaped three-story building, a cultural asset partially damaged in air raids during World War II, was set to start in April after JR East chose a domestic construction firm for the project. At the beginning of this year, however, the U.S. companies notified JR East through diplomatic channels of their interest in the project. JR East did not welcome the overture, saying that even though the company had not put the work out to tender, construction costs had been squeezed, and open bidding would take more time and cost more money...more...
