J-Cast news is reporting that shimin noen (市民農園, or farms located near cities) have increased threefold over the last 15 years, up to 3,382 sites for fiscal 2008, with local governments and NPOs inundated with applications for certain areas.
[Pic via Sanukibito.com]
Around 70 per cent of these “farms” are 50 square meters, with the rental cost as little as 5,000 yen (about $58) for a year’s use. Many of these aspiring farmers are said to be middle-aged salarymen and retirees keen to get their fingers green.
Eco consumer innovations have been some of the biggest media topics for the last few years in Japan, as we have noted many times before. With the Baby Boom Generation set to begin retiring en masse, they are looking for ways to spend their days. No doubt, scandals with food safety (particularly processed gyoza dumplings made in China!) have also inspired a desire for safer, more natural food.
Though the much-publicized Ginza rice paddy (below) seems to be making way for planned construction work on the land (i.e. it’s going to be replaced by a building), there are still plenty of vibrant examples of eco urbanism.
The Atre mall inside JR Ebisu station in central Tokyo opened its rooftop soradofarm in September 2009, allowing people to literally do some gardening during their shopping trip.
Many of the “city farms” are in fact intended to be only cultivated at weekends or after work. People are seeking a rural, eco experience but in a way that does not interfere too much with the benefits of their suburban or urban lifestyles.
Cynics will say that they do little to improve Japan’s lamentable levels of self-sustainability, but they are certainly becoming a kind of “third space”, like karaoke booths and internet cafes: locations that act as unique living/relaxation/work areas that are not usually possible elsewhere.
