By Michael Moyer

Reporter： Tokyos Grand Prince Hotel Akisaka is a shadow of its former self， and its shrinking by the day. Floor by floor the building is being 1）demolished from the inside， a clean and efficient technique being used for the first time. It was developed by the Taisei Corporations Hideki Ichihara.

Ichihara： （via translator） The cap， which sits on top of the building， will be 2）jacked down in stages. So the building you see behind me has been reduced from an original height of 140 meters and is now around 80 meters.

Reporter： And in six months it will have disappeared from the skyline completely.

From the outside the demolition is barely noticeable， but inside its a 3）hive of activity.

Heavy machinery on the top floor destroys beams， columns and most of the floor itself before temporary jacks underneath bring the debris down one level. An interior 4）crane then lowers the debris to the ground， a process that generates electricity for other equipment at the same time.

In a densely-built city like Tokyo， its a practical alternative to methods used elsewhere in the world.

Ichihara： （via translator） You can only use explosives to collapse a building under the condition that there are no other buildings around. But if you collapse this building using explosives， that building and the one over there will be affected. So， in conclusion， we obviously cant use explosives in Japan.

Reporter： But its a method Ichihara says has application in other countries. Not only is it much cleaner than conventional demolition， its also much quieter， something Ichihara says， “is worth shouting about.”

記者：東京赤坂區(qū)王子酒店正悄無聲息地縮水，只有昔日大廈的影子般高了。這座大樓正從內部被逐層拆除，這種干凈又有效的拆除技術是首次運用于實踐。該項技術是由大成建設集團的秀樹一原發(fā)明的。

一原：（通過翻譯）建筑的內部會用千斤頂撐起整個樓頂，它會隨著樓層的拆除往下降。因此你看到在我身后的這幢建筑原來是140米高，如今被拆到只有80米左右了。

記者：六個月之后這座建筑就會完全從天際中消失。

從外觀上，幾乎看不出這座建筑正在被拆除，但在內部拆除工作正進行得熱火朝天。重型器械在頂層拆除橫梁，柱子，包括大部分的樓面，之后下一層的臨時千斤頂就會把碎石運下來。而大樓內部的起重機會把碎石運到地面，這個過程同時能為其他設備發(fā)電。

在世界各地的像東京這樣建筑物密度高的城市，這種拆樓方法是實際有效的選擇。

一原：（通過翻譯）只有在周圍沒有其他建筑物的情況下，你才能用炸藥來拆除一座建筑物。但是如果你用炸藥來炸掉這幢大樓，旁邊那座建筑，那邊那座建筑都會受到影響。因此，總而言之，我們顯然不能在日本用爆破拆除方式。

記者：但是一原說這個方法在其他國家也適用。它不僅僅比傳統(tǒng)拆除方式干凈得多，而且噪音小得多。用一原的話說，這是一個“值得宣揚的方式”。