Research & reports

Amelie M. Vanderstock, Cecilia Grandi-Nagashiro, Gaku Kudo, Tanya Latty, Shoko Nakamura, Thomas E. White, Masashi Soga · Journal of Insect Conservation · Japan

An online survey was conducted with 443 adults in Japan to investigate the association between nature and gardening experiences, demographics, species identification knowledge, and biophilia (liking) and biophobia (dislike, fear, and disgust) towards invertebrates. Frequent gardeners were found to be more likely to express biophilia and perceive invertebrates as beneficial, and generally less likely to express biophobia. The results suggest that gardening can serve as a pathway to foster appreciation for invertebrate biodiversity in urban settings.

Hiroyuki Tsunashima · Impact · Japan

Dr. Hiroyuki Tsunashima of Osaka Metropolitan University, Japan, leads a project linking agriculture and social welfare to provide job opportunities for socially disadvantaged individuals. The project involves clients working on farms under the supervision of social welfare staff, emphasizing autonomous skill acquisition and holistic practices. This initiative draws from the Teikei movement, a community-supported agriculture system in Japan, to facilitate the process through food and farmer-consumer partnership experiences.

Shingo 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.

Mariia Ermilova, Mitsunari Terada, Isami Kinoshita · · Japan (Tokyo)

From March 2016 to 2021, a five-year action research project was conducted in Matsudo, a Tokyo suburb, Japan, by two PhD students from Chiba University in collaboration with a local neighborhood association. Through cultivating culturally significant plants like herbs, vegetables, and flowers, and utilizing them for crafts and cosmetics, local women, the elderly, and children developed new skills, gained financial support, and social confidence. These activities expanded from edible landscape cultivation in planters to the creation of eight gardens, providing alternative forms of community participation.

Kimihiro Hino, Takahiro Yamazaki, Akiko Iida, Kentaro Harada, Makoto Yokohari · Landscape and Urban Planning · Japan (Tokyo)

This study evaluated the contribution of five types of activities in productive urban landscapes (PULs) to physical activity among 80 Tokyo residents using accelerometers and activity diaries. Older participants frequently engaged in these activities, spending a high percentage of their total energy expenditure, with satoyama woodlands averaging approximately one-third of national weekly recommendations for older adults. Total daily energy expenditure was significantly higher on workdays (1.18 to 1.36 times non-workdays), and hourly energy expenditure in PULs was comparable to public parks.

Naomi Shimpo · Toshi keikaku hokokushu/Toshi keikaku houkokushuu · Japan

This case study reports how Toyama City, Japan, launched a municipally led community garden program using neighborhood block parks (gaiku koen), the smallest category of urban park in Japan. Growing and harvesting vegetables and fruit in urban parks had generally been regarded as inappropriate on public-interest grounds, but the city persuaded the responsible ministry that community gardens benefit urban residents, particularly older adults, and meet existing needs of these parks. As a result, management of the community gardens was transferred, through official procedures, to resident-run park stewardship associations (koen aigokai).

横浜市港北区 · 横浜市港北区 · Japan

The rooftop garden at Kohoku Ward Office in Yokohama reopened on April 1, 2022 after waterproofing and flowerbed renovation work. It is positioned as a measure against the heat island effect, for energy savings, CO2 reduction, and environmental education, with about 20 "green supporters" active Tuesdays 10am-12pm. The ward's green coverage ratio is reported to have fallen from 33.4% in fiscal 1992 to 24.1% in fiscal 2019.

東京都都市整備局 · 東京都都市整備局 (Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Bureau of Urban Development) · Japan

A section of the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Urban Development's case study collection on its comprehensive green-space policy, describing Nerima Ward's 'disaster-cooperation farmland' scheme, under which farmers agree by covenant (since 1996) to let their land be used in a major disaster for evacuation space, temporary housing sites, equipment storage, or fresh food supply. Citing MAFF data, it states that as of 31 March 2020, 76 municipalities across 8 prefectures in Japan's three major metropolitan areas had similar programs covering 1,353 hectares. It also notes that because the agreements are not legally binding, proactive use led by local government is difficult.

Harada K., Hino K., Iida A., Yamazaki T., Usui H., Asami Y., Yokohari M. · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH), 18(2):542 · Japan

A cross-sectional study comparing 783 urban-farming participants with 1,254 non-participants in Tokyo. Participants in both allotment and experience-farm programs reported significantly better self-rated and mental health, highlighting the health value of regular social interaction in urban farming.

Shimpo N. · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems (Wiley), 6:e20015 · Japan

A case study of a suburban-Tokyo community garden that collects neighborhood kitchen waste and returns it to the soil as compost, forming a local food cycle. It documents how the bottom-up founder sustained the garden, provided work opportunities for people with disabilities and food-education for children, and built links with welfare facilities, kindergartens, and schools.

· 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.

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.

Yoshida 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.

中川 睦司, 高橋 秀和, 上田 健治, 渡辺 明夫, 赤木 宏守, 櫻井 健二 · 園芸学研究（Hort. Res. (Japan)）, 20(4): 379-385 · Japan

Using SSR markers on four Akita native eggplant varieties and 46 domestic landraces, phylogenetic and population structure analyses inferred the genetic relationships and likely introduction routes of traditional Akita eggplant cultivars.

千葉 舞優, 西村 亮彦 · 景観・デザイン研究講演集 No.17 · Japan

Using Odakyu's regenerated Hoshinotani Danchi as a case study, this research examines the planning and operation of community spaces including the Hatamusubi rental farm, Kissaten Laundry café, and childcare support facilities, showing how movement between facilities generates small-scale exchange including the surrounding area.

世田谷区 · 世田谷区 検討報告書 · Japan

Setagaya's review report from its urban-agriculture and farmland-conservation PT after the 2022 productive-green-area issue, outlining the current state and future direction of publicly supported urban farmland use including buy-out conservation, agriculture-welfare collaboration, ward allotments and community farms such as Tamaribatake.

Kondo C. · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 10(4):103-121 · Japan

A case study of generational handover in two Kansai teikei groups, analyzing how the transition to a successor generation re-energizes the groups as 'diverse economies'.

Chika 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.

Ryosuke 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.

Kana Nakatsuka · Journal of Rural Problems · Japan (Higashi-Osaka City)

Higashi-Osaka City implemented the "Farm Mileage2 Campaign" to promote urban agriculture, collaborating with food business operators to jointly develop agricultural products. As a result, residential areas of consumers preferring ethical foods expanded based on the shipping destinations of food business operators. The movement also fostered events for food and agriculture education, promoting understanding of urban agriculture rather than just leisure. Many urban residents were found to desire agriculture near their homes.

Seiji Tange, Keisuke Sakamoto, Takahiro Yamazaki, Akiko Iida, Makoto Yokohari · Toshi keikaku hokokushu/Toshi keikaku houkokushuu · Japan

This 2021 study analyzed 13 municipalities in regional (non-metropolitan) Japan that operate the production green space (seisan ryokuchi) system, examining how changing perceptions of the value of farmland within urbanization-promotion areas led to expanded designation of production green space. It found that rising tax burdens on farmland in urbanization-promotion areas triggered the spread of production green space designation even in regional cities. It also found that, beyond this economic factor, the 2015 enactment of the Basic Act for the Promotion of Urban Agriculture prompted a movement to assign farmland new roles and values—such as land for disaster-prevention cooperation and sites for food and farming experience—which further contributed to the expansion of designation.

Shingo YOSHIDA · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan

Against a backdrop in which revision of the Productive Green Land Act and a new law for leasing urban farmland enabled existing farmers to expand and new entrants to begin farming in metropolitan areas, this study used survey data from 317 farms in cities of the Tokyo metropolitan area, plus semi-structured interviews at two fruit farms in Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture, to examine the significance and characteristics of introducing regular employees on peri-urban farms. The survey showed that the number of regular employees varied by farm developmental stage, distinguishing farms with only one employee from those with two or more in terms of management capability and social networking; interviews indicated that even among similarly sized farms, differences in farm objectives and family-management thinking affected the presumed role of regular employees and future human resource plans.

日本経済新聞 · 日本経済新聞（Nikkei） · Japan

A Nikkei report on Nomura Real Estate partnering with JA Setagaya-Meguro to launch, in November 2020, a monthly subscription 'urban experience farm' for home gardening on over 2,000 sqm of productive green land in Setagaya. With about 200 plots of 3.6 sqm where residents and citizens take part from planting to harvest, it highlights how supported rental farming links the preservation of shrinking urban farmland with citizen participation in agriculture.

Tsuge Kazuki, Chen Ruikun, Yoshioka Yosuke, Motoki Satoru · The Horticulture Journal, 89(1): 12-21 · Japan

Using phenotypic traits and 24 SSR markers, this study assessed the genetic and phenotypic diversity of 'norabona', a traditional Brassica napus leaf-and-stem vegetable of the Kanto region, documenting diversity within this Japanese landrace.

福本 優, 大平 和弘, 藤本 真里, 赤澤 宏樹 · 都市計画論文集 55巻3号 pp.777-782 · Japan

A case study of self-managed development parks under green-space agreements in private developer condominium projects in Kobe, analyzing spatial typologies and owner maintenance attitudes and showing the need for design guidance toward open green management including community gardens.