Japan: Can urban farming play a key role in food security?

From small orchards to high-tech vertical farming, producing food in urban areas could help address key social and environmental issues

By Francesco Bassetti
The Japan Times
Mar 6, 2023

Excerpt:

Although Tokyo is no exception to this trend, with agricultural output having decreased by approximately 17% compared to a decade ago, “Tokyo residents are increasingly getting involved in farming as volunteers or as a hobby,” says Tomotoshi Nose, director of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s agriculture, forestry and fishery division.

Urban farmers in Tokyo are taking the lead in developing distinctive farming techniques that are unique to the city, including innovative communal farms that produce small-quantity, multiproduct items that sell produce directly to consumers.

“We’re trying to support these kinds of initiatives by developing certification systems to promote environmentally friendly agriculture and local production for local consumption,” Nose says.

This signals an important shift for the residents of Tokyo, one of the most densely populated metropolitan areas in the world.

“For my parents’ generation, urban farms weren’t seen as something desirable,” says Hidenori Kondo, director of the University of Creativity, where he established Tokyo Urban Farming, an initiative that seeks to promote urban farming and sustainable lifestyles throughout the capital.

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