Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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川崎市農業振興計画（案）〔概要版〕
2026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.
PolicyCommunityFood educationEconomicsACTION RESEARCH ON COMMUNITY GARDENS INSTALLED ON BOTH SIDES OF A SIDEWALK
2026Kenjiro 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.
CommunityFood educationPolicy市民農園って楽しい！
2025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.
CommunityFood educationEconomics令和7年度版さいたま市の農業
2025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.
PolicyCommunityFood educationEconomics論考_都市農地のコモン的活用促進に関する研究― JA北河内の農業体験農園を事例として ―
2025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.
CommunityPolicyFood educationConsumer segmentation and participation drivers in community-supported agriculture: A choice experiment and partial least squares structural equation modelling approach
2025Sota 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.
CSA & TeikeiFood educationCommunityClimate changeCollaborative consumption of tea tourism through community-supported agriculture
2025Lee 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.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityEconomicsFood educationDevelopment and Prospects of Community Gardens through Temporary Use of National Land
2025Naomi 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.
CommunityPolicyFood educationOrganic cycleProcesos de diseño y construcción para la reapropiación ciudadana de los vacíos urbanos. El Proyecto Machi Hata en Nagano, Japón
2025Kosuke 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.
CommunityFood educationPolicyThe Application of Leisure Constraints to Community Garden Activities Having Different Themes in Japan
2025Ryotaro 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.
CommunityHealthFood educationBiodiversityAn Inventory of Vascular Plants in the Elementary School Garden on Okinoerabujima Island.
2025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.
Food educationBiodiversityCLARIFYING THE VALUE OF COMMUNITY GARDENS UTILIZING VACANT LOT AND THE FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE THEIR CREATION
2025Hayato 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.
CommunityFood education横浜都市農業推進プラン2024-2028
2024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.
PolicyCommunityFood educationBiodiversityEconomics環境報告書（令和６年度）
2024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.
PolicyBiodiversityCommunityFood educationOrganic cycleInteractions 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 educationCommunity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 educationEconomicsPolicyValuation 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 & justicePolicy