Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
114 results(2 / 5)
川崎の農業の実態
2023川崎市 経済労働局 都市農業振興センター · 川崎市 調査報告書 · Japan
Kawasaki status report on farmland area, producers, productive greenbelts, tourism farms, citizen farms and regional exchange farms, quantifying small-scale urban production and publicly supported experience farms.
PolicyEconomicsCommunityHealthValuation of student-led agricultural activities at university: comparison of willingness to pay with inferred values
2023Ryo Sakurai, Takuro Uehara · Sustainability Science · Japan (Kyoto)
A contingent-valuation study at Ritsumeikan University, Japan, measuring the monetary value students place on student-led farming activities using double-bounded dichotomous-choice surveys of 375 students in 2016 and 356 in 2020, comparing each respondent's own willingness to pay (WTP) with the value they inferred other students would pay. In 2016 mean WTP was ¥1,613.6 (median ¥1,101.3) against a mean inferred value of ¥1,056.6 (median ¥742.4); in 2020 mean WTP was ¥2,376.8 (median ¥1,408.8) against ¥1,814.5 (median ¥1,150.6). Confidence intervals overlapped in both years, so the differences were not statistically significant, indicating less social-desirability bias than earlier research found. Estimated total utility was about ¥2.51 million, enough to fund the student-led agricultural project. Limitations: a single institution, no examination of the mechanisms behind inferred values, and hypothetical rather than actual donations.
EconomicsFood educationCommunityExploring the possibilities of creating shared value in Japan's urban agriculture: using a mixed methods approach
2022Kiminami L., Furuzawa S., Kiminami A. · Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science (Springer), 6(2):541-569 · Japan
Uses a mixed-methods approach to clarify how shared value is created in Japan's urban agriculture, focusing on the cognitive innovation of social entrepreneurs and urban residents' perceptions and behaviors. It argues that multifunctional urban farming can generate combined social, economic, and environmental co-benefits.
EconomicsCommunityPolicy「生産緑地2022年問題」に対応した都市農地制度についての農地所有者への意向調査
2022· 日本地理学会発表要旨集（J-STAGE） · Japan
Academic study surveying productive-greenland owners in Yawata City, Kyoto, on their intentions toward post-2022 urban-farmland policies such as the Special Productive Greenland system and the lease facilitation law.
PolicyEconomicsCommunityProvision of Allotment Gardens and Its Influencing Factors: A Case Study of Tokyo, Japan
2022Zheng H., Akita N., Araki S., Fukuda M. · Land 11(3):333 · Japan
Using 313 allotment gardens drawn from governmental open data, the study classified them by cluster analysis based on number of plots, plot size, contract price and duration, and facilities. It found that allotment-garden provision in Tokyo is differentiated from city center to suburbs by the share of agricultural land and residents' socio-demographic characteristics including population, share of young people, and income levels.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsBusiness model and cost performance of mini-plant factory in downtown
2022Lu N., Kikuchi M., Takagaki M. · Plant Factory Basics, Applications and Advances (Elsevier), pp. 271-293 · Japan
Analyzes the business model and cost performance of downtown mini plant factories with artificial lighting, finding their profitability high enough to attract entrepreneurs but highly sensitive to output prices, system acquisition cost and wage rates.
EconomicsEconomies of scale in constructing plant factories with artificial lighting and the economic viability of crop production
2022Zhuang Y., Lu N., Shimamura S., Maruyama A., Kikuchi M., Takagaki M. · Frontiers in Plant Science 13:992194 · Japan
Empirical study of economies of scale in constructing Japanese plant factories with artificial lighting (PFALs), assessing optimal commercial scale and economic viability while accounting for transaction costs.
Economics名古屋農業振興地域整備計画書
2022名古屋市 · 名古屋市 農業振興地域整備計画 · Japan
Nagoya's agricultural revitalisation area development plan, setting the institutional framework for municipally supported urban agriculture through conserving quality farmland, modernising facilities, promoting farmer-led citizen farms and collaborative local land use.
PolicyCommunityBiodiversityEconomics福岡市農林業総合計画（令和４年度～令和８年度）第２部 農業
2022福岡市 · 福岡市 農林業総合計画 · Japan
Agriculture chapter of Fukuoka's five-year comprehensive plan, covering subsidies for citizen farms, experience farms and refresh farms plus Agrichallenge and other municipally supported urban agriculture measures.
PolicyCommunityEconomicsFood educationTrends after The Enforcement of The Urban Agriculture Promotion Basic Law: Focusing on Conversion from Residential Land to Agricultural Land
2022肇 石原 · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan
This study examines trends in Japan following the enactment of the Urban Agriculture Promotion Basic Law in April 2015, focusing on the conversion of residential land to agricultural land. In Osaka City's Joto-ku, former residential land has been maintained as a rental farm since 2019. Additionally, Tokyo Metropolitan Government (from 2017) and Kobe City Office (from 2021) have implemented subsidy measures for such conversions. These recent movements, reversing the historical trend of agricultural land becoming residential, are still in their infancy.
PolicyUrban–rural linkageEconomicsLease and Usage Conditions of Productive Green Land by Urban Farms
2022Shingo Yoshida, Hironori Yagi · 農村計画学会誌 · Japan (Tokyo)
This study clarified the purposes and actual use of leased productive green lands by urban farmers in Tokyo, Japan. Case studies revealed that farmers leased land for scale expansion, new crops/methods, agricultural corporation establishment, and new entries, particularly for successors and new entrants. A questionnaire survey in six cities found that potential tenant farmers prioritized farming conditions, while landowners focused on community harmony, with preferences differing between existing and non-participating farmers.
PolicyEconomicsCommunityThe urban farmland system for city planning that coexists with "agriculture"
2022Hiroshi Kurose · Toshi keikaku hokokushu/Toshi keikaku houkokushuu · Japan (Hiroshima)
This paper examines the necessary perspectives for local governments to introduce the productive green space system, using Hiroshima City's 2020 implementation as a case study. It reviews the current state of urban agriculture and inheritance issues in Hiroshima, clarifies the requirements for productive green spaces and their relationship with agricultural cooperatives, and discusses future directions for city planning that coexists with agriculture.
PolicyUrban–rural linkageEconomicsまちづくり団体による都市農業の市場外流通支援の特徴と課題
2021· 都市計画論文集（公益社団法人 日本都市計画学会）56巻2号 · Japan
A peer-reviewed paper analyzing how community-development organizations support off-market distribution (direct and contract sales) of urban agriculture, using cases in Kashiwa and Kokubunji. It provides scholarly context for public-private farmers-market and local-food efforts such as Kobe's EAT LOCAL KOBE.
PolicyCommunityEconomics都市農業をめぐる情勢について
2021農林水産省 農村振興局農村計画課都市農業室 · 農林水産省（都市農地活用支援センター セミナー資料） · Japan
A Ministry of Agriculture briefing on the current state and policy trends of urban agriculture. It summarises trends in urban farmland area, productive/specified-productive green space, measures under the Urban Agriculture Promotion Act, and initiatives toward diverse functions such as citizen farms, experience farms and agriculture-welfare collaboration — a baseline reference for municipalities designing urban-agriculture policy.
PolicyEconomicsCommunityFood educationLong-Term Development of Urban Agriculture: Resilience and Sustainability of Farmers Facing the Covid-19 Pandemic in Japan
2021Yoshida S., Yagi H. · Sustainability 13(8):4316 · Japan
Drawing on a survey of 74 farms in Tokyo, the study revealed conditions for farm resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic and the relationship between short-term resilience and long-term farm development. More than half of the farms increased sales, and short-term resilience contributed to farmers' intentions for long-term development and farmland preservation.
EconomicsPolicyCommunityRe-energizing Japan's teikei movement
2021Chika Kondo · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Japan
This paper analyzes Japan's teikei movement (Japanese CSA) and how it exemplifies diverse economies. Through case studies of two teikei groups in the Kansai region, it assesses how changes made by current generations allow teikei to adapt to long-standing challenges, such as the decline of volunteer labor. Despite current members' detachment from strong activist identities, they sustain their organizations through part-time work, community building, and institutionalizing volunteer labor.
Economic viabilityCSA & TeikeiCommunityEconomics農家と飲食店,流通事業者の連携による農産物ブランディングの展開 : 国分寺市「こくベジ」プロジェクトを事例として
2021Ryosuke Koda, Susumu Kawahara, 亮輔 甲田, 晋 川原 · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan
A case study of the "Koku-Vege" project in Kokubunji City, Tokyo, Japan, investigated agricultural product branding in urban agriculture. The project built upon existing agricultural promotion policies and citizen activities, involving administrative departments skilled in public relations, which fostered broad understanding and empathy for the brand. Continuous communication by agricultural product delivery personnel connecting farmers and restaurants, along with regular government-led events, contributed to changes in restaurant awareness, new relationship building, and expanded brand recognition within the region, demonstrating features that promote intra-regional branding.
CommunityEconomicsPolicyCharacteristics of policies based on Basic Law for Urban Agricultural Promotion formulated by local governments located in urbanization promotion area of Tokyo
2021Izumi ARAKAWA, Noriko Akita · Journal of The Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture · Japan (Tokyo)
This study identified the characteristics of local plan policies based on the Basic Law for Urban Agricultural Promotion, formulated by local governments. The survey covered 310 local governments in 11 prefectures across three major Metropolitan areas. Tokyo had a large number of local governments formulating local plans and implementing various policies, with differences observed between cities and wards. "Branding of agricultural products" was one policy independently formulated, while "Promotion of agricultural cooperation between rural and urban areas" was not adopted by any local government.
PolicyUrban–rural linkageEconomicsEffects of Urbanization on Farmland Size and Diversified Farm Activities in Japan: An Analysis Based on the Land Parcel Database
2020Yoshida S. · Land 9(9):315 · Japan
Using a nationwide agricultural land-parcel GIS database for the Tokyo and Osaka metropolitan areas, the study analyzed the synergistic effects of distance from cities and urban sprawl on farmland-parcel size and diversified farm activities such as direct marketing, farming experience, and environmentally friendly practices, via OLS and Poisson regression.
PolicyEconomics一般企業の農業参入の研究動向と今後の論点：農業参入企業の農業経営展開を中心に
2020Onaka K. · 農業問題研究 (Journal of Rural Issues) · Japan
Critically reviews research on general firms' entry into agriculture amid farmland deregulation in Japan, discussing the rising number of entrant companies, regional disparities, and the development and challenges of corporate farm management.
EconomicsPolicy一般社団法人まちにわ ひばりが丘 2019年度 活動報告書
2020一般社団法人まちにわ ひばりが丘 · まちにわ ひばりが丘 公式活動報告書 · Japan
A milestone report marking transition from developer-led (Daiwa House, Sumitomo Fudosan, Cosmos Initia, etc.) to resident-led governance at former Hibarigaoka Danchi, documenting operation of Hibari Terrace 118 with its shared garden and the evolution of machizukuri.
CommunityPolicyEconomics合計1000㎡の空き家・空き地を、好奇心でつながるコミュニティ農園に。「みんなのうえん」の金田康孝さんに学ぶ、住みたい街のつくり方
2020greenz.jp · greenz.jp · Japan
An in-depth feature by the social-design media greenz.jp interviewing Minna no Uen founder Yasutaka Kaneda, detailing his shift from architecture to farming and how he turned about 1,000 sqm of vacant houses and lots into a curiosity-driven community garden.
CommunityEconomics地方創生政策とその問題点
2020森川洋 · 人文地理（人文地理学会）72(3), 299–315 · Japan
A critical examination of Japan's 'regional revitalization' policy (against depopulation and Tokyo over-concentration), arguing that rural decline cannot be halted without dispersing Tokyo's functions, and weighing both the importance and the limits of 'small hub' development.
PolicyEconomicsThe process from the start-up to independence of the Civil Agriculture Organizations as farmers in Urban Agriculture
2020Ikuko Omi, Tôru Nakayama · Journal of the City Planning Institute of Japan · Japan
This study documents the five-year process of establishing and developing civil agriculture organizations to enable suburban residents to participate in urban agriculture. It identifies various conditions necessary for success, including initial investment, cultivation training, farmland conditions, and sales. The study also clarifies the relationship with local government and farmers, and notes that members began developing their own agricultural techniques once the organization's operations stabilized, revealing diverse roles and issues within these groups.
CommunityEconomicsPolicyPeri-urban agricultureThe history and management of a community garden established on vacant land by an NPO
2020Naomi Shimpo · Toshi keikaku hokokushu/Toshi keikaku houkokushuu · Japan (Tokyo)
This paper investigated the establishment and management of a community garden opened by an NPO on vacant land in Sumida Ward, Tokyo. Interviews and document analysis revealed that the garden was established to cultivate traditional vegetables to foster human interaction, and the NPO status was acquired to receive municipal subsidies and potentially resolve property tax issues. NPO status is considered advantageous for the economic stability of community garden operations.
CommunityPolicyEconomics