Research & reports

川崎市 · 川崎市 農業振興計画 · Japan

Draft outline of Kawasaki's agricultural promotion plan showing over 120,000 sqm of citizen farms, Farmers Club experiences and local-food promotion via "Kawasaki Sodachi" through municipality-JA collaboration.

Kenjiro MATSUURA, Hana Yamaguchi, Maya HAIJIMA, Keibi KA, Toshiya HIROE · AIJ Journal of Technology and Design · Japan

This action research reports on the Nishi-Chiba Urban Farming (NUF) project, a community garden spanning public and private land on both sides of sidewalks. Findings suggest that considering multiple sites and starting small before gradual expansion is effective, and early relationship-building facilitated collaboration among diverse stakeholders. Local residents positively evaluated NUF, with participants valuing agricultural learning, community engagement, and social interaction.

Taira KAGAMI, Yoshiyuki Uchikawa · 農村計画学会誌 · Japan

A study of Minowa Town, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, investigating the attributes of allotment garden users and how former users progressed toward independent home vegetable gardening on farmland. Set against an increasing proportion of nonfarmers in the rural population and rising demand for allotment and home vegetable gardens, Minowa Town established an allotment garden with a beginner-level cultivation course and also encourages residents to lease farmland for vegetable gardening. The study found that user attributes were diverse, comprising both landowning nonfarmers and relocators who had newly leased farmland — a combination not reported in earlier studies — and that some former users continued to cultivate their own land or newly leased fields after completing the gardening course. Based on these findings, the study concludes that rural allotment gardens serve a different role from existing urban gardens: providing a place for landowning nonfarmers to learn vegetable cultivation for use on their own fields, and providing relocators an opportunity to acquire farmland and establish home vegetable gardens, suggesting that in rural areas where farmland is relatively accessible, allotment gardens can help expand home gardening within local communities.

農林水産省 · 農林水産省 農村振興局農村政策部農村計画課都市農業室 · Japan

Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) organizes urban agriculture's roles into six functions: fresh produce supply, farming-experience/exchange opportunities, disaster-prevention open space, green/landscape space, national land and environmental conservation, and food/agricultural education. In a survey of urban residents, about 50% recognized urban farms' role in supplying fresh produce and about 60% expressed interest in buying local produce, while only about 30% saw urban farms as a place for farming experience or exchange. 'Disaster cooperation farmland' — an arrangement re-recognized after the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake — involves municipalities signing voluntary agreements with farmers to use urban farmland as evacuation space or temporary-housing sites during disasters.

農林水産省 · 農林水産省 · Japan

Shokuiku (food and nutrition education) is positioned as "the foundation for living, underlying intellectual, moral, and physical education," aiming to help citizens cultivate lifelong health and rich humanity. The Basic Act on Shokuiku was amended on May 27, 2026, and the 5th Basic Plan for the Promotion of Shokuiku was decided on June 24, 2026. MAFF operates a public-private food education platform, an award system for exemplary food-education organizations, and a national Shokuiku Month campaign, among other initiatives.

名古屋市 東部・緑農政課 · 名古屋市 市民農園調査・広報資料 · Japan

Nagoya outreach and survey material cataloguing municipal allotment types — Nogomi, community, partitioned and Minori farms — with plot sizes, fees and recruitment timing, showing the reality of publicly operated rental gardens.

さいたま市 · さいたま市 農業統計・振興報告書 · Japan

Saitama's annual agricultural report summarising publicly supported urban agriculture including the urban agriculture council, land-coordinator programme and 79 public/private citizen farms with supply statistics.

華奈 中塚, 基 小林 · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan

This paper clarifies the effectiveness and challenges of JA-led agricultural experience farms, using JA Kitakawachi as a case study. It extracts elements for JA to support farmers and manage operations, aiming to revitalize local urban agriculture and maintain urban farmland by sharing it with residents as a common resource. The study suggests involving diverse stakeholders in managing experience farms for joint land use and sustainable development.

Sota Takagi, Miki Saijo, T. Ohashi · International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science · Japan

This study identified potential Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) participants in Japan and validated existing theories on CSA participation through a quantitative analysis of 2484 Japanese consumers using choice experiments and Latent Class Analysis. Five distinct consumer segments were identified, with "Food Education and Learning Opportunities" and "Contribution to Environmental and Social Issues" being key drivers for participation across all segments. Factors related to "Variety of Ingredients" were less influential.

Lee Jolliffe, Moe Nakashima · · Japan

This chapter explores the use of Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) as a model of collaborative consumption by a tea farm in Japan. The case study, Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms, LLC, is a social enterprise that implements CSA principles, allowing subscribers to receive the coming year's tea harvest and symbolic ownership of a tea field section. This model is driven by socio-economic objectives and aims to build a community of tea drinkers who support the farm.

Naomi Shimpo, Sakura Yamada · Toshi keikaku hokokushu/Toshi keikaku houkokushuu · Japan (Tokyo)

This paper reports on the establishment of "Harajuku Harappa Farm," a community garden initiated by local residents on approximately 1,500m² of unused national land in central Tokyo. The project overcame barriers to national land use through multi-stakeholder collaboration, featuring experimental, shared, and educational plots with an emphasis on composting and local resource circulation. This case suggests the potential for temporary use of public land for environmental education, community building, and circular resource management in urban areas from an urban planning perspective.

Kosuke Sakura, Ignacio Grávalos Lacambra, Manuel Alejandro Rufasto Ñañez, Patrizia Di Monte · Dearq · Japan (Nagano)

This article presents an active service-learning methodology as a pedagogical approach in architecture schools, focusing on community-led appropriation of public space. This methodology was implemented through the Machi Hata Project, which aimed to transform three abandoned areas near Zenkoji Temple in Nagano—Sukeroku Garden, La Rencontre Backyard, and A Goat Garden—into "civic gardens." The study documents the sequential processes of analysis, design, and community-led construction of these community gardens, highlighting their potential as both educational tools and catalysts for urban regeneration.

Ryotaro HAYASHI, Yasushi Kyutoku, Atsuya SHIMAZAKI, Yoshiki HARADA · Transactions of Japan Society of Kansei Engineering · Japan

This study investigated the applicability of the leisure constraint model to community garden programs in Japan, using an online questionnaire (n=732) on participation constraints across four activity scenarios. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the model can be applied to Japanese community garden practices. However, exploratory factor analyses revealed many extracted factors had vague or inconsistent question combinations, suggesting a need for future research to construct a community garden-specific leisure constraint model.

基博 川西, 143997, Motohiro Kawanishi · Kagoshima University Repository · Japan (Okinoerabujima Island)

A survey of flora in seven elementary school gardens on Okinoerabujima Island, Japan, clarified the distribution of vascular plants and compiled a list for educational use. The survey identified a total of 480 species, comprising 211 native, 100 exotic, and 157 cultivated plants. The school gardens were characterized by a large number of native species, including rare and endangered herbaceous plants, indicating their high potential for nature education.

Hayato SHIGEYAMA, Godai Mori, Yusuke Yabutani, Gen TANABE · Journal of Architecture and Planning (Transactions of AIJ) · Japan

This study in Japan used interviews and Strategic Experiential Modules to identify the value created by the 'Yoshihisaen' community garden, which utilizes a vacant lot, and the factors contributing to this value. Five findings were obtained: creating opportunities for collaboration and interaction is important; working with students promotes residents' personal growth; hosting events provides value such as fun and improved relationships; balancing diverse participant roles helps sustain the garden; and community gardens foster student attachment to a place.

Motohiro Kawanishi · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan

A survey of the flora growing in the gardens of seven elementary schools on Okinoerabujima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, catalogued the vascular plants present as basic reference material for educational use. A total of 480 vascular plant species were recorded, of which 211 were native to Okinoerabujima Island, 100 were exotic, and 157 were cultivated. The school gardens hosted a large number of plants characterized by a high proportion of native species, including rare plants such as endangered herbaceous species. The survey sites were found to have high potential for use in teaching about the island's nature.

Honoka TAHARA, Takafumi OISHI · 農村計画学会誌 · Japan

An internet-based questionnaire survey of students, faculty and staff of a Faculty of Agriculture in Japan examined the feasibility of introducing Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) into university-regional cooperation. Awareness of CSA was low and prior participation limited, but respondents tended to rate CSA favorably as a university-regional cooperation initiative; ordered logistic regression showed willingness to pay CSA membership fees was associated with occupation, prior experience (home delivery, farm work), interest in food, CSA awareness, favorable evaluation of CSA for cooperation, and intention to participate in non-purchasing CSA activities.

横浜市 環境創造局 · 横浜市 都市農業振興基本法に基づく地方計画 · Japan

Yokohama's latest five-year local plan under the Urban Agriculture Promotion Act, organising policies for sustainable farming, farmland preservation, citizen farms, harvest experiences and local consumption building on Midori Up and Megumi-no-Sato programmes.

東京都国分寺市 · 国分寺市 環境報告書 · Japan

Kokubunji's annual environmental report under the basic environment plan, evaluating urban farmland preservation, local consumption and biodiversity while documenting municipally supported programmes such as the Citizen Agriculture University and citizen farms.

Miyagi 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.