Research & reports

東京都都市整備局 · 東京都都市整備局（民有地の緑の保全・創出 制度） · Japan

A Tokyo system created in 2011 to conserve dwindling farmland as open space and carry the agricultural landscape into the future. Districts where farmland and homestead groves remain clustered are designated so that scattered farmland can be conserved collectively as urban-planning parks/green space. Designations include Setagaya's Kitami (the first) and Nerima's Takamatsu and Minami-Oizumi, providing the policy framework for municipal urban-farmland conservation.

幸治 江口 · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan

The Santome Area in Saitama Prefecture has practiced circular urban agriculture utilizing plain woods for 300 years, but urbanization, particularly in Kawagoe City and Tokorozawa City, is causing a significant decline in farmland and plain woods. While the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Saitama Prefecture promote urban agriculture and plain wood preservation, the plain-wood-utilizing circular urban agriculture in Santome Area faces specific problems. This paper identifies land systems, including taxation, as a central issue among these problems and examines the possibility of integrated preservation for farmland and plain woods.

知弘 岡田, 大介 小山 · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan

This paper is part of a special issue on the "Possibility and problem of 'coexistence of agriculture and housing' in suburban agricultural region of big city," presenting an overview of the urbanization process and contemporary challenges of town planning in the Kuga-Hatsukashi area of Fushimi Ward, Kyoto City.

· ランドスケープ研究（日本造園学会誌）73巻5号 pp.469- · Japan

A field study of how danchi outdoor (open) spaces are actually used, examining directions for regeneration through stock utilization; it found demand was highest for children's play, followed by walking and resting, pointing to the need for regeneration plans that promote diverse outdoor uses, including gardens.

Makoto Yokohari, Marco Amati, Jay Bolthouse, Hideharu KURITA · disP - The Planning Review · Japan (Tokyo)

This paper advocates for re-establishing mixed land-use garden zones in and around cities, conceptualized as spaces for urban residents to develop local food cultures. It outlines post-war planning policies that separated urban and agricultural uses, investigates demographic shifts threatening domestic agricultural production, and examines Edo's urban agricultural heritage for a new planning paradigm. The paper demonstrates the need for multifunctional green spaces with examples from the greater Tokyo area and concludes by discussing the need for hybrid garden zones that encourage mixed urban and agricultural uses.

Satoru USHIROZAWA, Masao Makiyama, Takaaki Takahashi · JOURNAL OF RURAL PLANNING ASSOCIATION · Japan

This study evaluated the benefits of Kleingartens (stay-type allotment gardens) for local municipalities in Japan, using data on investment, maintenance costs, and user fee revenue. A main finding is that municipalities, on average, incur a considerable deficit, with a typical Kleingarten having an estimated annual deficit of approximately 240,000 yen. The study concluded that it is difficult for municipalities to achieve profit by providing Kleingartens, even with marginal improvements from increased user fees.

埼玉県 · 埼玉県 · Japan

This Saitama Prefecture guide on rooftop and wall greening methods cites the Building Standards Act Enforcement Order's live-load table and explains that an existing ordinary house roof can carry roughly only 60 kg/sqm once seismic force is factored in. Covering a roof with 10 cm of natural soil (specific gravity 1.6-1.8) would add 160-180 kg/sqm, exceeding that limit, so it recommends lightweight artificial soils (specific gravity 0.6-1.0) and notes the need for root-barrier sheets to protect waterproofing layers and for automated irrigation.

Yutaka Kudo · Journal of Architecture and Planning (Transactions of AIJ) · Japan

This research examines the development processes of community gardens in Japan and discusses their "publicness" as public spaces. Japanese community gardens were introduced before WWII as a form of urban open space, similar to Kleingarten in Germany and Allotment in England. In the postwar period, they expanded quantitatively through the practical use of urban unused farmland, and are now provided from the perspective of urban environment and rural development. The publicness of community gardens in Japan has been intentionally shaped by various actors throughout their historical transition.

Ping Liu · Xiandai riben jingji · Japan

A discussion piece traces the development of "creative agriculture" among Japanese farmers since the early 1970s, citing Oita Prefecture's One Village, One Product movement as an early representative example. It describes recent Japanese government measures — promoting green tourism, developing urban agriculture, establishing urban gardens, building attractive rural environments and homes, and encouraging urban residents to move to villages for farm work or experiences in an urban-rural "amphibian" lifestyle — that it says have brought Japan's creative agriculture into a new stage of development.

森ビル株式会社 · 環境コミュニケーション 39巻6号 pp.30-31 · Japan

Official technical literature explaining Mori Building's 'Vertical Garden City' concept, describing pioneering private redevelopment rooftop farming and greening including paddy fields and mochi-rice harvest at Roppongi Hills and environmental community creation.

YU Ju-sheng · Shanghai nongye xuebao · Japan, China

This study compared the course of urban expansion and urban agriculture development in Japan with China's recent urbanization, particularly the economic development of its eastern coastal areas. It noted that both Japan and China share the Oriental agricultural characteristic of separate management on a small scale. The study concluded that it is important for China's urban agricultural development to examine Japan's urban agricultural history and experience.

· 農林水産省・経済産業省・国土交通省 告示 · Japan

The basic policy under the Act on Promotion of Collaboration between Agriculture, Commerce and Industry — a joint notification of MAFF, METI and MLIT. It sets the criteria for certifying joint projects between small businesses and farmers, fishers or foresters, the support measures available, and the support secretariats placed in each METI regional bureau.

環境省 · 環境省 · Japan

In the Edo period, human waste and ash were stabilized hygienically in 'koidame' pits and traded to surrounding farms as fertilizer, sustaining a regional circular economy that kept cities clean. After WWII, land reform and the spread of chemical fertilizer left human waste with nowhere to go, prompting a shift from the Sanitation Law (1954) to the Waste Management Law (1970); municipal composting facilities built in the 1960s-70s were largely abandoned due to contamination, odor complaints, and the labor burden on aging farmers.

日本都市計画学会 · 都市計画論文集（日本都市計画学会）42.3, 877 · Japan

An empirical analysis of the effects and challenges of urban-rural exchange projects written into district-level plans, critically examining the structural gap between the planning system and on-the-ground practice.

焦必方 · 上海经济研究 · Japan (Tokyo)

This paper analyzes the experiences of modern rural construction in the suburbs of Tokyo, focusing on Mitaka City and Hinohara Village. It highlights the development of suburban rail networks and other infrastructure, the provision of comprehensive public facilities, and the promotion of urban agriculture tailored to suburban characteristics. The study also notes efforts to balance regional development disparities, advocate democratic management, and pursue social harmony.

Jyuichi Yamazaki, Takayuki UCHIHIRA · JOURNAL OF RURAL PLANNING ASSOCIATION · Japan (Amagasaki-City)

This study considered the role of urban farmland and the possibility of its maintenance and practical use from the viewpoint of living environment formation and community improvement, through an analysis of a citizen questionnaire conducted in February 2006 in the Sonoda district of Amagasaki-city. The paper particularly focused on male participation in civic agriculture planning awareness and the possibility of civic support for farmland maintenance.

Kouji Sawai · 공동 추계학술발표회(2000~) · Japan

A 2007 report introduces the use of sewage treatment plant rooftops as scarce open space in the densely built-up areas of Osaka, Japan, where urbanization began early. Public facilities including a citizens' allotment garden — described as the first rooftop park in Japan — were built on top of the Hanaten Sewage Treatment Plant, and the report states that these facilities have drawn many visitors since opening in April 2005, due largely to the success of the allotment garden.

Lily Kiminami, Akira Kiminami · Studies in Regional Science · Japan

Urban agriculture in Japan faces problems such as farmland reduction, farmer aging, expansion of abandoned cultivated land, and environmental pollution from livestock waste or agricultural chemicals. Urban agriculture can contribute to improving urban quality of life by supplying agricultural goods, creating landscapes, ensuring land conservation, and providing environmental benefits like biodiversity conservation. However, these issues pose challenges to the economic viability of urban agriculture.

· 法令（e-Gov法令検索・417AC1000000063） · Japan

The 2005 framework law promoting shokuiku (food and nutrition education) as a national movement. It assigns duties to national and local government, mandates the basic plan, and explicitly promotes hands-on agricultural experience — the policy basis for school gardens and experience farms.

Fujio HIRATA · Journal of The Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture · Japan

This paper discusses the importance of not only conserving urban green spaces but also utilizing them to convert environmental resources into environmental assets. It emphasizes the need for role sharing and collaborative relationships between citizens and local governments to establish such utilization systems. Examples from Japan's 'Satoyama' conservation and Open Garden activities, along with U.S. community gardens, offer suggestions for developing these systems.

Eugênio Ávila Pedrozo, Tânia Nunes da Silva, Izabel Cristina Takitane · Americanae (AECID Library) · Japan

This exploratory study examines the Seikatsu Club's experience in Japan, which operates based on Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and Sanchoku systems. These movements foster direct relationships between organic consumers and Japanese organic rural producers, who are part of social networks and aligned with sustainability principles. This approach contributes to more sustainable solutions for society by emphasizing new food consumption patterns and valuing consumer cooperatives.

Eriko SUZUKI, Akira Koshizawa · Journal of The Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture · Japan (Sapporo)

This study summarizes the history of Sapporo's Shiroishi Park, which was designated as a city planning park in 1942 and simultaneously approved as a two-year continuous project. Shiroishi Park was characterized by its integration with a scenic district, 40% of its area planned as a community garden, and its status as the largest among five parks planned concurrently. However, after World War II, it became subject to land allocation for independent farmers, leading to a significant reduction in its scale.

Fujio Hirata, Sheauchi Cheng · Journal of the City Planning Institute of Japan · Japan

This study investigated American community gardens, particularly in San Francisco, to define their concept in Japan where activities to create community gardens are emerging. It found that while American community gardens are superficially similar to Japanese citizen farms, their operational methods differ significantly. The role of coordinators, chosen by participating citizens, greatly influences the environmental formation of local communities in these gardens.

Takashi Watanabe, Makoto Yokohari, Ryuto Matsuzawa · Journal of the City Planning Institute of Japan · Japan (Tokyo)

This study clarified farmers' responses to agricultural activities involving urban residents in the Tokyo Metropolis. The findings showed that over half of the farmers engaged in agricultural activities involving urban residents, and those enthusiastic about these activities often demonstrated excellent farm management. Furthermore, municipalities within the target area were categorized into three types based on the proportion of farmers involved in urban resident-associated agricultural activities.

Fang Zhao · · Japan

This paper discusses Japan's utilization of farming land and related promotional policies. It notes that while progress was made before the 1960s, farming land utilization has continuously retrogressed since then. Despite a series of measures taken to correct this, the results have been unsatisfactory. However, the paper suggests that lessons can be learned from these measures regarding policy guidance, renting/contracting systems, wasteland control, land information, and urban farming garden construction.