Urban farming in Tokyo 163panicked when the Great East Japan Earthquake struck on March 11, 2011, and the
food supply system became temporarily paralyzed due to the excessive buying and
stockpiling of foodstuffs. One reason this occurred was the anxiety stemming from
the fact that the entire food supply, which serves as a basis for survival, is dependent
on the monetary economy. As such, it could be argued that self-production, self-
consumption would also be effective in suppressing mass panic after disasters,
which is considered to be one of the greatest threats in cities.
To this end, what amount of vegetables can be expected to be produced by
vacant lots that have been transformed into gardens? We attempted to generate
an estimate based on Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture, where we have conducted
long-term research. Kashiwa City is a bedroom community of Tokyo located
approximately 35 kilometers from the center of Tokyo, in which the bulk of
residential development occurred in the 1960s and 1970s. Total land area of
the city is 114.9 km^2 , and current population was 406,813 as of March 2014
(Kashiwa City 2014). Unsuccessful attempts to renew residential areas that have
deteriorated since their development 40 to 50 years ago have begun to result in the
emergence of abandoned houses and vacant lots (Suzuki et al. 2011). In a study
we conducted, we calculated vegetable yield per unit area of land for a community
agricultural farm in Chiba Prefecture (Tahara et al. 2011). Based on these results,
we estimated the total vegetable production potential of the 46.4 ha of vacant lots
in Kashiwa City’s residential areas to be 1,815 t/yr.
What percentage of total annual vegetable consumption in Kashiwa City does
this amount represent? Mean annual household vegetable consumption in Chiba
Prefecture is 184.1 kg (Statistics Japan 2009). As of March 2014, the total number
of households in Kashiwa City was 168,445 (Kashiwa City 2014). Based on these
figures, we estimate the amount that can be potentially produced on vacant lots (1,815
t/yr) represents approximately 5.8 per cent of total vegetable consumption in Kashiwa
City. This may seem like a small share; however, the goal, in the first place, is not 100
per cent self-sufficiency, and, as discussed above, there are substantial social benefits
associated with self-production, self-consumption, however small the amount may
be. If we consider the fact that the number of vacant lots will increase in the future as
the population declines, this share may increase but certainly will not decline.
Some leading-edge practices of urban agro-activity have been seen in
Kashiwa City. Kashiniwa (rental garden) program is a scheme operated by the
city since 2010, which connects the owners of vacant lots (potential gardens) and
neighborhood citizens (potential gardeners). A successful example of a Kashiniwa
program in which a neighborhood community has successfully changed an
abandoned property into a community-gathering place is Jiyu-hiroba (freedom-
place), which comprises various vegetable gardens partitioned into small gardens
for individual farmers and raised-bed type gardens for elderly gardeners and other
community gardeners (Figure 11.3). With this initiative, revitalization occurred
not only on the land itself but also throughout the aging neighborhood community
through the restoration of social ties (Watanabe et al. 2014).
Another example is a unique garden that utilizes the pre-developed area of
Kashiwa City. Urban development projects are still ongoing, albeit relatively