Research & reports

· Wikipedia (ja) · Japan

The Ginza Honeybee Project began on March 28, 2006, keeping Western and Japanese honeybees on Ginza building rooftops, producing and selling honey-based sweets, cocktails, and soap, greening over 1,000 sqm of rooftop space, and providing environmental education to local kindergartens and schools. Honey production grew from 150 kg in 2006 to 800 kg in 2009, and an agricultural production corporation, Ginza Mitsubachi, was established in 2010.

東京都環境局 · 東京都環境局 · Japan

In 2024, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Bureau of Environment named the Ginza Honeybee Project (an NPO started in spring 2006) as an Excellence Award winner in the first Tokyo-NbS Action Award. The organization supplies honey gathered within a 2 km radius to department stores and restaurants as a local product, and also grows sweet potatoes on rooftops (processed into shochu), cultivates plants used for washi paper, and runs environmental education programs; in 2024 honey production reached about 2.7 tonnes and roughly 18,000 people took part in hands-on programs.

Hénaff 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.

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.

M. Tsuruta, Kyo Itoyama · Japanese Journal of Applied Entomology and Zoology · Japan (Kawasaki City)

This study investigated the seasonal occurrences and species composition of Orius spp. in an okra field in Kawasaki City, Japan. Orius spp. were found on okra plants from early-summer to early-autumn, with peak occurrences advancing with earlier flowering times. The initial occurrence was not associated with the seasonal prevalence of thrips on okra plants, suggesting that the main factors influencing Orius spp. occurrence are prey-independent.

Sakurai Shin · Nippon.com · Japan

A feature on the Ginza Honey Bee Project ('Ginpachi'), a nonprofit founded in March 2006 by Tanaka Atsuo, which installed beehives on the roof of the Kami Parupu Kaikan building in central Tokyo, drawing nectar from Hibiya Park and the Imperial Palace grounds within roughly a 3km radius. A decade on, the project has grown to 150 members, supplies honey products sold at the Matsuya Ginza department store and honey cocktails at nearby bars, and has inspired more than 100 urban beekeeping projects nationwide as well as projects in South Korea, Taiwan and elsewhere in Asia.