Almost half a year after Nissan Motor Co.'s Murayama plant was shut down, the automaker announced in July it was considering selling a large portion of the 1.39-million-sq.-meter property to a Buddhist organization.
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The news was greeted with more anxiety than hope by many in communities around the property, which stretches between Musashimurayama and Tachikawa in western Tokyo. It was obvious that Shinnyoen, a Tachikawa-based sect with a 65-year history, would not be able to bring the same economic benefit as Nissan did with its fixed-asset tax payments and spending by the 2,300 workers at the plant.