In Japan, Boomers Eye Local Food as a Retirement Hobby

You’ve heard of pop-up books, but have you heard of pop-up gardens? Possibly not. Gardens are popping up all over the place in urban and near-urban areas of Japan. These small garden allotments are populated with families and urban-dwellers, but one of their main inhabitants is the baby boomer.

Shimin noen means urban gardening in Japanese. Shimin noen is blossoming in Japan, just as it is in North America. Most of those who are quick on the uptake are those who are on the verge of retirement. The baby boomer generation is looking for options for relaxation as they move into a life with less work. However, they aren’t necessarily looking for work, nor do they want to move to a place with a larger garden and a less urban lifestyle. They want their urban gardens easily accessible and simple to maintain.

This calls for a change in urban gardening philosophy. Once the stuff of urban rebels and the foundation for those who wanted to transform the city from the ground up, local food gardening is becoming a trendy and relaxing pastime.

Shimin noen often contain very small plots. These are kitchen gardens of little more than 30 square meters. This is adequate for the urban and recreational gardener, but it’s definitely not a local farm. These plots are also inexpensive. Rental fees for the year often come to little more than sixty dollars. Put the plots together and you get a recreational activity that is also good for the environment, the budget, and the table.

These small urban gardens also come with extra gardeners. Some like the Soradofarm are also staffed to ensure that plants receive consistent care. This is recreational and useful gardening. Gardeners have plots but they have backup gardeners as well to ensure that they realize a harvest, even if they become busy.

Over the last fifteen years, urban gardens in Japan have bloomed. Their numbers have increased threefold, up to nearly 3500 garden sites and counting. They are also inundated with requests for more. While some might say that these urban gardens do not add a substantial amount of local food to Japan’s urban landscape, these gardens do create green where there was none before. They are also a healthy and sustainable habit for locals to create, a habit focused on working with the earth rather than consuming its resources.

Orignal post: www.justmeans.com/In-Japan-Boomers-Eye-Local-Food-as-a-Retirement-Hobby/29861.html