Research & reports

Christoph Rupprecht · Land · Japan

This study analyzed residents' perceptions, use, and management preferences for informal urban green spaces (IGS) in four major shrinking Japanese cities (Sapporo, Nagano, Kyoto, and Kitakyushu) using a large online survey of 1000 residents. Residents viewed IGS as a common element of the urban landscape, but their evaluation was mixed. Recreation and urban agriculture were preferred over redevelopment and non-management, and for participatory management, residents emphasized the need for city administration to mediate usage and liability, along with financial and non-financial support. Approximately 10% of residents expressed willingness to participate in management activities.

肇 石原, Hajime ISHIHARA · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan

Since 1990, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, has seen a decrease in agricultural land area and the number of farm households, particularly in Nagoya City and its surrounding municipalities. While the reduction in productive green space and full-time farmers was moderate, engagement in agriculture-related businesses, excluding direct sales, was not extensive. A polarization was observed between municipalities active and inactive in designating productive green spaces, posing a challenge for future land use planning.

Daisuke Machida, Tohru Yoshida · PubMed · Japan

A cross-sectional study in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, investigated the relationship between fruit and vegetable (FV) gardening and health-related factors among men aged 50-74. Community gardeners showed significant positive correlations between gardening frequency/time and perceived changes in FV intake and physical activity. Logistic regression models indicated that community gardeners had significantly greater physical activity, and other types of gardeners had greater FV intake, perceived neighborhood social cohesion, and less sitting time compared to non-gardeners.

肇 石原, Hajime ISHIHARA · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan

This study examined changes in urban agriculture in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, since 1990, finding a weakening of the agricultural management base. While the decline in productive green space and full-time farmers was limited, engagement in agriculture-related businesses, excluding direct sales, was not widespread. The preservation of productive green spaces in some cities remains a challenge for future land use planning.

肇 石原, Hajime ISHIHARA · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan

Since 1990, the weakening of agricultural management foundations has been observed in urban areas of Nara Prefecture, though the decrease in productive green space and the number of full-time farmers remained at a certain level. Rice cultivation was the main crop in many areas, and engagement in agriculture-related businesses, apart from direct sales, was not extensive. Regarding the designation of productive green spaces, many cities were reluctant during the initial designation following the revised Productive Green Space Act and also during the Heisei mergers, which is identified as a challenge for future land use planning.

Masahiro Nakajima · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan

This paper reviews trends in urban agriculture development and conservation in Japan, noting that urban agricultural land has been encroached upon by residential buildings due to population growth, creating mixed-use areas. While measures to promote urban agriculture are being adopted following the 2015 Basic Act, the paper emphasizes the need to highlight its food supply function. It also suggests classifying urban agriculture by different actors: urban farmers, collaborations between farmers and citizens, and citizens using urban agricultural land.

Shingo Yoshida, Hironori Yagi · JOURNAL OF RURAL PLANNING ASSOCIATION · Japan (Tokyo)

This study conducted a questionnaire survey targeting existing farmers in Tokyo to investigate the determinants of diversification and farm performance among urban farmers. Results showed some differences between mass-marketing farmers, direct-marketing farmers, and indirect-marketing farmers in terms of farm size, customer relationship capability, farm objectives, and farm performance.

Shimpo N. · 博士論文 (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Tokyo) · Japan

Doctoral dissertation systematically analysing the historical development of urban-type gardens and agricultural activities in Japan. Traces the emergence and evolution of diverse urban agricultural spaces—allotment gardens, community gardens and the like—forming the basis of Shimpo's later books and papers.

農林水産省, 国土交通省 · 農林水産省（都市農業振興基本法に基づく政府の基本計画・閣議決定） · Japan

The government's basic plan under the Urban Agriculture Promotion Act (2015). It places 'realising the diverse functions of urban agriculture' at the centre and sets three new policy directions: securing urban farmers, securing land for farming, and full-scale agricultural-promotion measures. It is the core plan underpinning municipalities' citizen farms, experience farms and farmland conservation nationwide.

HILLS LIFE（森ビル） · HILLS LIFE（森ビル運営メディア） · Japan

An article explaining Mori Building's rooftop rice-growing at Roppongi Hills and Ark Hills through its 'machi-iku' (town-based learning) philosophy. From a developer's viewpoint it discusses the meaning of resident- and worker-participation in rice planting and harvesting, and the link between rooftop greening / green infrastructure and community building.

Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan · Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan · Japan

A practitioner handbook compiled by Japan's Ministry of the Environment on Eco-DRR (Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction). It systematizes the use of ecosystems and traditional land use—forests preventing soil erosion, coastal forests attenuating tsunamis, wetlands and paddy fields providing temporary flood storage—to achieve disaster risk reduction and biodiversity conservation simultaneously, providing a policy basis for treating urban and rural farmland and greenery as protective green infrastructure.

· 都市計画報告集（日本都市計画学会）, No.15 · Japan

A study of Kashiwa's 'Kashiniwa' scheme analysing the conditions for interim use of vacant land where the city brokers between owners and citizen groups — empirical research on matching-type interim-use schemes.

Takahashi Yu, Yokoi Shuji, Takahata Yoshihito · Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, 63(5): 869-879 · Japan

Analysis of 87 turnip accessions using chloroplast and nuclear SSRs and morphology revealed distinct haplogroups between eastern and western Eurasia, with continental Asian accessions (including Japan) showing the highest genetic diversity.

Iketani Hiroyuki · Breeding Science, 66(1): 82-89 · Japan

A review of Japan's native fruit tree genetic resources shaped by its diverse climate, summarizing the status of wild and local fruit taxa, red-listed species, and the state of conservation in genebanks and botanical gardens.

Nishio Sogo, Takada Norio, Saito Toshihiro, Yamamoto Toshiya, Iketani Hiroyuki · BMC Genetics, 17: 81 · Japan

Comparing wild, Chinese, local, and modern Japanese pear cultivars, the study found reduced heterozygosity and allelic richness in modern cultivars, which were genetically close to Kanto local cultivars and strongly biased toward 'Nijisseiki'.

Ito H., Senoo K., Kubo E. · 研究 技術 計画 (Journal of Science Policy and Research Management) · Japan

Argues, through case analysis of Japanese plant-factory businesses, that diverse business models exist beyond running-cost reduction, including operation-related ventures, highlighting the variety of corporate monetization strategies in plant-factory agribusiness.

岩瀬 貴也, 小泉 秀樹, 後藤 智香子 · 都市計画論文集 51巻3号 pp.277-284 · Japan

Studying public-private community gardens in Koto Ward through interviews with the ward, developers, and participant surveys, this paper identifies their potential as models for area-contribution development burden systems in new development and challenges to sustaining activities.

肇 石原, Hajime Ishihara · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan (Osaka)

This study analyzed changes in green space components (parks, agricultural land, forests) across Osaka Prefecture, Japan, from 1970 to 2010. While forest area decreased slightly and park area increased, the increase in park area was insufficient to offset the significant reduction in agricultural land. Consequently, the overall green space ratio in Osaka Prefecture showed a declining trend, particularly noticeable in Osaka City and its surrounding areas.

Kento Takano, Noriko Akita · Journal of The Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture · Japan

This study clarified requirements for community-based allotment gardens as a land use management strategy in urbanization control areas in Japan. A questionnaire survey of metropolitan area municipalities revealed over 60% established allotment gardens in these areas to utilize farmland. An interview study of "Genki Nouen" in Ushiku City, Ibaraki Prefecture, found it was proactively managed by neighborhood associations, promoting effective use of abandoned cultivated land and bamboo forest management. The study concluded that creating an environment for social capital formation is necessary for land use management by community-based allotment gardens.

肇 石原, Hajime ISHIHARA · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan

This study analyzed changes in green space components (parks, agricultural land, forests) across Aichi Prefecture, Japan, from 1970 to 2010. While forest area decreased less significantly than agricultural land, and park area increased, the increase in park area was insufficient to offset the reduction in agricultural land. Consequently, the overall green space ratio showed a declining trend in most areas, particularly in Nagoya City and its surrounding regions.

Ryozo YANAGIDA · Journal of Architecture and Planning (Transactions of AIJ) · Japan

This study investigated the planning principles of urban formation during Hokkaido's pioneering period (Meiji and Taisho eras) by analyzing six prototypes of city formation. The research identified seven planning principles, including the selection of town sites from a bird's-eye view, the use of a basic axis and point for area space formation, the existence of rural-urban planning, and the importance of riverports or railway stations as cardinal points. Other principles involved the scale of urban areas (600-900 ken), the placement of hills as mental footholds, and the adoption of a grid pattern for town division.

Naomi Shimpo, Toru Terada, Makoto Yokohari · Journal of The Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture · Japan

This study examines the feasibility of organic material circulation from turning increasing vacant lots in suburban Japan into allotment gardens, comparing three scenarios with different degrees of gardenization. Composting experiments identified the composition of organic materials needed to produce usable compost and the amount of compost required to gardenize vacant lots, while a separate analysis determined how many households would need to cooperate in supplying organic materials under each scenario. The study found that the weight ratio of kitchen waste to pruning waste for usable compost was 3:2, and that cooperation from at least 16 households would be needed to produce enough compost to gardenize an average-sized housing lot. It concludes that the scenario limited to existing gardens on vacant lots is feasible for organic material circulation, while the other two scenarios, which assume more extensive gardenization, would require greater understanding among urbanites.

· · Japan

This account of Tokyo urban farming contrasts Brooklyn Grange, a roughly 1-hectare rooftop farm in New York that produced 23 tons of organic produce in 2014, with Taiken Noen ('hands-on farming') in Tokyo's Nerima ward, where urban residents cultivate vegetables under instruction from local farmers on about 1,300 plots across 12 farms covering roughly 5 hectares combined, a practice the text describes as continuing to grow in popularity.

KIKUCHI Toshio, TABAYASHI Akira · E-journal GEO · Japan

A case study of the Sunagawa area in Tachikawa City, in the Tokyo metropolitan fringe, analyzed the mechanism sustaining urban farming through the relationship between the siting of farm-product direct-sale stands and the commodification of rural space. Urban farming's persistence in the area depends heavily on the location of these direct-sale stands: because the stands sell directly to urban residents and are maintained to meet their needs, agricultural production continues. As a result, not only the rural landscape and agricultural land use but also the rural community itself are sustained, and as urban residents visit and buy from the stands, the rural space comes to be understood as both a production space and a consumption space.

国土交通省都市局 · 国土交通省 都市局 · Japan

This MLIT Urban Bureau document explains 2016-era amendments to the Productive Green Zone Act following the May 2016 cabinet decision on the Basic Plan for Promoting Urban Agriculture. It lowered the minimum area requirement for designating a Productive Green Zone from 500 m² to as low as 300 m² by municipal ordinance, allowed multiple adjacent parcels (each at least 100 m²) to be treated as one contiguous zone, and eased building restrictions within zones to permit processing facilities, direct-sale stands, and restaurants using produce grown on site.