Urban Farm DB
← Back to cases
SchoolyardActiveSince 1997

Edo-Tokyo Vegetables in Community Gardens and Schools

Tokyo, Japan · Operator: NPO法人江戸東京野菜コンシェルジュ協会 / 江戸東京・伝統野菜研究会 / JA東京中央会

Overview

A long-running movement reviving Tokyo's near-lost heirloom 'Edo-Tokyo vegetables' in city schools, a horticultural high school and allotments. Over nearly 30 years more than 50 varieties have been registered, linking heritage food culture and farming to the next generation via school lunches and food education.

Citizen participation

Schoolchildren and horticultural high-school students grow heirloom vegetables from sowing to harvest, linked to school lunches and food-education classes; citizens also join via allotments and courses.

Operating model

Run through NPO, agricultural cooperatives, municipalities and schools; funded by membership, courses, a 'concierge' certification program, direct sales and school-lunch supply.

Impact

Combines urban heirloom-seed conservation with cultural transmission; adoption in school lunches has boosted awareness and revived production.

Crops

  • 大蔵大根 (Okura daikon)
  • 小松菜 (komatsuna)
  • 内藤とうがらし (Naito pepper)
  • 寺島なす (Terashima eggplant)
  • のらぼう菜

Scale

Network of school plots, farms and community gardens across Tokyo; 50+ registered heirloom varieties

Sources(2)

Related cases

Schoolyard
2014

Edible Schoolyard at Aiwa Elementary, Tama

JPTama, Japan

In 2014 Aiwa Elementary in Tama became Japan's first Edible Schoolyard, modeled on Alice Waters' Berkeley program. The school garden and kitchen serve as 'living classrooms' where children learn through all five senses, from sowing to harvest, cooking and eating, as a formal subject. Pupils experience nutrient cycles, the interconnection of life and ties to their community.

Food educationOrganic cycleCompost+2

edibleschoolyard-japan.org+2

Schoolyard
2022

Edible Schoolyard at Sakamoto Elementary, Chuo

JPChuo, Tokyo, Japan

Following its work at Aiwa Elementary in Tama, Edible Schoolyard Japan extended edible education to central Tokyo, where pupils of Chuo Ward's Sakamoto Elementary School take edible lessons linked to the nearby Edible KAYABAEN rooftop garden. It brings garden-based food education, from seed to table, into an inner-city public elementary school.

Food educationOrganic cycleCommunity+1

ediblekayabaen.jp+1

Schoolyard

Kanazawa Kaga Vegetables School Cultivation and Food Education

JPKanazawa, Japan

Kanazawa's 15 certified 'Kaga vegetables' heirlooms are grown, harvested and cooked by schoolchildren in integrated-study programs and featured in food-education booklets and lunches, transmitting the city's heritage food culture and history to the next generation.

BiodiversityFood educationCommunity

www4.city.kanazawa.lg.jp+1

Schoolyard

Naniwa Traditional Vegetables in Osaka Schools

JPOsaka, Japan

Osaka certifies 'Naniwa traditional vegetables'—heirlooms nearly lost to urbanization—and uses them in school gardens and lunches as 'living teaching material,' letting pupils taste and learn the food culture and farming nurtured by Osaka's historic 'kitchen of the nation.'

BiodiversityFood educationCommunity

city.osaka.lg.jp+1

Edo-Tokyo Vegetables in Community Gardens and Schools — Urban Farm DB