Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
260 results(3 / 11)
Interactions Between Kindergarten Teachers and Children While Raising Plants: Focusing on Personification
2023Miyagi R. · Journal of Science Education (Japan), 63(3):645–654 · Japan (Okinawa)
Six months of observation in a public kindergarten class (age 5) in Okinawa during plant cultivation in the garden and shared field. Analyses how teachers' personifying talk supports children's empathy and learning about plants—practical insight for kindergarten gardening and food education.
Food educationCommunityHolobiont Urbanism: sampling urban beehives reveals cities' metagenomes
2023Hénaff E., Najjar D., Perez M., Mason C., McMeekin P. · Environmental Microbiome, 18:23 · United States (Brooklyn) / Australia / Italy / Japan
A pilot using three rooftop beehives in Brooklyn, NY, comparing hive substrates (honey, debris, swabs, bee bodies) to map surrounding urban metagenomes, then extending to hive debris from Sydney, Melbourne, Venice and Tokyo. Each city shows a distinct metagenomic profile, positioning rooftop beekeeping as a tool for reading the urban environment.
PollinatorsBiodiversityCommunity郊外住宅団地再生に向けての民間事業者による事業の特徴に関する研究 －兵庫県三田市・神戸市・三木市での事例を対象として－
2023松井 崚, 栗山 尚子, 水野 優子 · 日本都市計画学会関西支部研究発表会講演概要集 21巻 pp.49-52 · Japan
Typologizes private-sector housing-district regeneration including Daiwa House's Livnest Town project (Midorioka Neopolis), showing that in developer-responsibility types, firms lead diverse initiatives such as community hubs and cultivation businesses.
CommunityPolicyEconomics多摩地域都市農業振興協議会 活用事例
2023多摩地域都市農業振興協議会, 農林水産省 · 農林水産省 農山漁村振興交付金事例 · Japan
Case report on using the Rural Revitalisation Grant (urban agriculture function measures) to build an urban-agriculture community network around Hachioji in the Tama area through a regional council supported citizen and experience farms.
CommunityFood educationPolicy農と親しみ江東区の共生社会を考える協議会 活用事例
2023農と親しみ江東区の共生社会を考える協議会, 農林水産省 · 農林水産省 農山漁村振興交付金事例 · Japan
Grant case study creating a children's farm-contact space in Toyosu, Koto Ward, using urban farmland creation support — a report on ward-council-business collaboration for vacant-land farming, food education and an inclusive community.
Food educationCommunityPolicyWelfare株式会社Tryfe 活用事例（福岡市）
2023株式会社Tryfe, 農林水産省 · 農林水産省 農山漁村振興交付金事例 · Japan
Fukuoka case report on using MAFF grants for exchange markets linking urban farmers and citizens, promoting local food and interest in citizen and experience farms with municipal collaboration.
CommunityFood educationEconomicsPolicy株式会社ネイバーズファーム 活用事例（日野市）
2023株式会社ネイバーズファーム, 農林水産省 · 農林水産省 農山漁村振興交付金事例 · Japan
Hino case report on opening a farm for neighbourhood markets using national urban-agriculture symbiosis grants and municipal collaboration, linking citizen-farm produce distribution with community building.
CommunityFood educationPolicyかきつ畑プロジェクト推進協議会 活用事例（知立市）
2023かきつ畑プロジェクト推進協議会, 農林水産省 · 農林水産省 農山漁村振興交付金事例 · Japan
Chiryu, Aichi grant case linking local schools to promote urban agriculture, documenting a model of municipal-school-farmer collaboration in experience farms and food education near Nagoya.
Food educationCommunityPolicy一般社団法人KOBE FARMERS MARKET 活用事例
2023一般社団法人KOBE FARMERS MARKET, 農林水産省 · 農林水産省 農山漁村振興交付金事例 · Japan
Kobe grant case report on youth-oriented farmers markets using urban agriculture function grants, documenting city-farmer-civic collaboration to secure urban farmers and activate citizen farms and direct sales.
CommunityFood educationEconomicsPolicy大阪府摂津市 防災協力農地看板設置事例
2023大阪府摂津市, 農林水産省 · 農林水産省 農山漁村振興交付金事例 · Japan
Settsu City grant case installing signage for disaster-cooperation farmland, showing a municipal public-support model linking urban farmland's disaster and green functions with conservation of citizen farms.
PolicyCommunityBiodiversity市民農園市町村別開設状況（令和５年３月末調査）
2023神奈川県 · 神奈川県 調査報告書 · Japan
Kanagawa prefectural tabulation of citizen farms by municipality — including 285 in Yokohama and 64 in Kawasaki — enabling comparison of public, cooperative and farmer-led setups across the prefecture.
PolicyEconomicsCommunity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.
PolicyEconomicsCommunityHealthみんなのうえんPARK湊川にPARK BARが完成しました
2023独立行政法人都市再生機構（UR都市機構） · UR都市機構 西日本支社 ニュースリリース · Japan
A news release from UR (Urban Renaissance Agency) reporting the completion of the PARK BAR facility at 'Minna no Uen PARK Minatogawa' on UR land in Kobe, introducing the farm-plus-park social experiment for community exchange, childcare and welfare.
CommunityWelfareLongitudinal analysis of home food production and food sharing behavior in Japan: multiple benefits of local food systems and the recent impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
2023Kamiyama C., Hori K., Matsui T., Pretty J., Saito O. · Sustainability Science (Springer) · Japan
Using national surveys from 2015 and 2021, shows that more agricultural areas have higher home food production and neighborly sharing, and that interest in home production rose in urban areas after COVID-19—longitudinally demonstrating the multiple benefits of local food systems.
CommunityHealthValuation 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 educationCommunityRevisiting the KIT Community Garden Project
2023Bean Casey · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan
This paper discusses the current status of the KIT Community Garden project, an honors project at Kanazawa Institute of Technology that began in 2016. The project aims to improve members' English language skills, gardening knowledge, environmental awareness, and establish a deeper connection to the community. The paper covers the garden's state, design principles, recent changes, feedback from current members, and outstanding challenges.
CommunityFood educationHealthCharacteristics and Roles of School Gardens in Urban Areas of Japan: Perspective of School Managers
2023Rushi Wang, Shigeto YANAI · Land · Japan
This study surveyed school garden managers at public elementary schools in an urban area of Japan to analyze school garden characteristics and influencing factors. Findings indicated that school gardens inside schools offer better safety but less community connection, while external school farms provide more agricultural experience space. Schools with both types showed stronger community ties but decreased safety, and a notable lack of budget, teachers, supportive policies, and manager motivation was observed in operating school gardens.
Governance failureFood educationCommunityPolicySuccesses and challenges of a university-based agroecological community garden and educational program in Japan
2023Benjamin Schrager, Hiroki Ikeda, Takahashi Yukitsugu · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · Japan
This article explores Utsunomiya University’s Eco-programs, which combine a pesticide-free community garden with an educational series, using ethnographic data. Findings indicate tensions between the Eco-programs' agroecological goals and other institutional goals at the university. Despite these conflicts, the programs provide a space for agroecological gardening and serve as an example of an alternative agricultural initiative in Japan.
Governance failureCommunityFood educationFood sovereignty & justicePolicyExploring 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.
EconomicsCommunityPolicyWhat Reduces Household Food Waste in Japan? Nation-Wide and Region-Specific Contributing Factors in Urban and Rural Areas
2022Nakamura K., Kojima D., Ando M. · Sustainability (MDPI), 14(6):3174 · Japan
Analyzes nationwide survey data to identify consumer attributes (gender, age, children in the household, safety awareness) and behaviors (checking labels, food management) associated with household food-waste generation and reduction in Japan. It shows that contributing factors differ between large cities, small cities, and rural areas, underscoring the need for region-specific measures.
Food lossPolicy「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.
CommunityPolicyEconomics公・民・学の連携によるまちづくり －柏の葉スマートシティ－（三牧浩也・UDCK副センター長）
2022三牧 浩也（柏の葉アーバンデザインセンター 副センター長） · 国土交通省 スマートシティ官民連携プラットフォーム 講演資料 · Japan
A presentation by the deputy director of Urban Design Center Kashiwanoha (UDCK) explaining the public-private-academia town-building of Kashiwanoha Smart City, in which Mitsui Fudosan participates. It outlines the collaboration framework among citizens, companies and universities and the resident-participatory approach centered on health and community.
CommunityPolicyHealthBusiness 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