Research & reports

· 農林水産省 農村振興局 農村政策部 都市農村交流課 · Japan

MAFF's compendium on noufuku renkei (agriculture-welfare linkage): its current state, policies and cases. Defines it as work that builds confidence and purpose for people with disabilities through agriculture, and documents its widening scope to older people, those in economic hardship, people experiencing social withdrawal, and offender rehabilitation. Includes farm-workforce trends, disability population and employment figures, and cases of welfare providers entering farming.

内閣府 · 内閣府 · Japan

An explanatory deck on Japan's dormant deposits scheme published by the Cabinet Office in July 2026. Dormant deposits are accounts untouched for ten years or more; the enabling act passed as a member's bill in December 2016 and grant-making began in fiscal 2019, with activity-support organisations and equity investment added from 2024 under the June 2023 amendment. Dormant deposits transferred rose from ¥137.4 billion in FY2021 to ¥187.1 billion in FY2025, repayments to depositors rose from ¥25.2 billion to ¥58.7 billion over the same period, and transfers to the designated utilisation organisation ranged from ¥8.7 billion to ¥7.4 billion. As of the end of April 2026, 373 intermediary distribution organisations and 1,550 executing organisations had taken part, with an average grant of ¥154 million per project at the intermediary level and ¥16.24 million at the executing level.

Zuo J., Huang L., Minami C. · Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management · Japan

Using social identity theory and data from 226 Japanese employees, shows that perceived CSR boosts job and organizational engagement through organizational identification, moderated by the corporate volunteering climate.

Naomi Shimpo · · Japan (Kobe City)

This chapter presents two case studies of community gardens in old neighborhoods of Kobe City, Japan, to demonstrate their establishment process and the social connections formed. Community gardens serve as open spaces for evacuation and food sources after earthquakes, and daily gardening activities can build social capital crucial for mutual aid in a crisis. The cases illustrate the potential for social capital building through community gardening, particularly for foreign and elderly residents, and highlight the need for city government support for such bottom-up disaster preparedness efforts.

Shimpo N. · Landscape and Urban Planning, 251:105148 · Japan

Analyses how a suburban-Tokyo community garden (Seseragi Garden, Hino City) was managed for resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Gardeners proactively set rules through discussion and sustained activity, helping maintain food security, physical and mental health, ikigai and social networks, thereby contributing to community resilience.

· 農福連携等推進会議（内閣官房） · Japan

Government vision (2019, revised 2024) promoting noufuku—agriculture-welfare collaboration enabling people with disabilities to participate in society through farming—as national policy, covering awareness, training, facility support, and market expansion via certification.

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.

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.

· こども家庭審議会（2023年12月1日答申。同年12月22日閣議決定） · Japan

The first guideline under the Basic Act on Children for ensuring every child has safe, secure places to be. It organises place-making around four verbs (expand, connect, refine, review) and directs support to community-run places — children's cafeterias, adventure playgrounds and, by extension, garden-based places.

新保奈穂美 · 都市計画報告集（日本都市計画学会）20(1), 154 · Japan (Kobe)

Demonstrates the community-revitalization effect of urban agriculture in a shrinking city through the case of Hirano Co-op Farm in Kobe, suggesting that an open-to-all farm and learning opportunities are essential to community formation.

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.

· 法令（e-Gov法令検索・504AC1000000077） · Japan

The 2022 framework law on children's policy, centred on children's right to be heard and their best interests, obliging the government to adopt the Children's Outline. The parent statute of the children's-places guideline — the institutional starting point for community places, gardens included.

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.

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.

Toyoda M., Yokota Y., Barnes M., Kaneko M. · HortTechnology · Japan

Real-office study in Japan showing that intentional contact with a small desk plant reduces office workers' psychological and physiological stress, supporting planting and gardening interventions in the workplace.

Machida D. · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(8):1389 · Japan

A web-based cross-sectional survey of community-dwelling older adults in Japan examined links between community or home gardening and health-related indicators. Gardening with others was significantly associated with exercise habits, physical activity, vegetable intake and neighborly connections, and with higher subjective happiness and sense of purpose, supporting gardens as a means to counter isolation among the elderly.

· 農林水産省 · Japan

Materials on the 2019 Noufuku JAS standard certifying foods and ornamental plants produced with the involvement of people with disabilities, raising trust and brand value for agriculture-welfare products via third-party certification; first certifications issued November 2019.

Yoshifumi Ikejima · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Japan

A geographic information system (GIS) study examined food access among urban residents in Japan, focusing on elderly residents, across two study areas. Approximately 60% of residents aged 65 or older were found to live far from food stores needed for daily shopping, and the study identified nearby farmer-owned produce stands and farmers' markets as local agricultural outlets that could improve access to fresh food.

Soga M., Cox D.T.C., Yamaura Y., Gaston K.J., Kurisu K., Hanaki K. · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(1):71 · Japan

A questionnaire survey of 332 allotment gardeners and non-gardeners in Tokyo compared five self-reported outcomes: perceived general health, physical complaints, BMI, mental health and social cohesion. Allotment gardeners reported better general health, fewer complaints, better mental health and greater social cohesion, indicating that urban allotment gardening can improve residents' physical and mental health and community ties.

Sioen G., Sekiyama M., Terada T., Yokohari M. · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · Tokyo, Japan

Quantifying vegetable output from urban farmland in Tokyo's Nerima Ward, the study finds a weight-based self-sufficiency rate of just 6.18% and an aggregate nutritional self-sufficiency of about 2.86%, showing urban agriculture covers only a tiny fraction of local food and nutrition needs.

農林水産省 · 農林水産省 · Japan

This implementation manual from Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries sets out procedures and eligible expenses for programs supporting urban agriculture's functions, including welfare farms and a program for disaster-collaboration farmland. To qualify as disaster-collaboration farmland, a plot must be roughly 500 square meters or larger and located within a densely inhabited district as defined by the most recent census; the program also funds 'disaster-dual-use agricultural facilities' meant to protect residents' safety and livelihoods during emergencies such as earthquakes.

Watanabe Y., Miyamoto M., Amemiya M., Terada T., Yokohari M. · ランドスケープ研究 77(5):713-718 · Japan

Taking the 'Jiyu Hiroba' community garden established under Kashiwa City's Kashiniwa program as a case study, the paper analyzes how the publicness of a community garden is generated and transformed, drawing on resident-drawn site plans, annual management reports, and interviews with neighborhood-association members.

修一 舩戸 · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan (Hino City)

This paper examined the sustainability of urban agriculture through volunteer farming initiatives in Hino City and Machida City, Tokyo. In Hino City, the "Hinojin Ennou no Kai" has provided free farming assistance since 2006, while in Machida City, the NPO "Tagayasu" has offered paid assistance since 2002. Based on these cases, the impact of collaboration between citizens and local farmers on the sustainability of urban agriculture was discussed.

Masao Makiyama, Mami Inoue · JOURNAL OF RURAL PLANNING ASSOCIATION · Japan

This study investigated the effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake on Fudouson and Hippo stay-type allotment gardens in Marumori Town, Miyagi Prefecture. Immediately after the earthquake, management entities confirmed user safety and conducted rescue operations. Post-earthquake, some users retired, but the gardens gained new users who were earthquake victims or reconstruction workers.