Photo from the Yomiuri Shimbun
Left: Yukari Yoshinaka holds edamame seedlings at Konan Agream in Takamatsu City.
Right: Saori Takizawa grows snap peas in the City Farm vegetable garden on the roof of a commercial complex in Koto Ward, Tokyo.
June 24, 2024 11:00 (Japan time)
Recently, I've become interested in growing vegetables. My apartment doesn't have a garden, but it does have a balcony. I can also rent a field. Recently, I often see women cultivating the soil by themselves. How do they spend their time in the garden?
Takanami Agri-Mum, an agricultural experience and exchange facility located on a hill in the southern part of Takamatsu City, has 51 vegetable plots. The rental fee for each plot, approximately 50 square meters, is 13,200 yen per year, including tax.
Yukari Yoshinaka (34), who lives in the city, had planted soybean seedlings in her garden. She started growing vegetables five years ago. “I tried growing soybeans from seeds before, but it didn't work out. This time, I'm thinking of growing them from seedlings,” she said.
“You can tell by looking at the onion”
Under the sun and clear blue skies, the snap peas were fruiting and the onion sprouts were lined up in neat rows. “When the sprouts fall over, it's time to harvest. The onions taught me the best time to harvest,” says Yoshinaka.
When she first started growing vegetables, she was suffering from work stress. After she harshly scolded a relative's child, she realized how irritable she was. Working out at the gym did not improve her mood.
Around that time, Yoshinaka visited Konan Agream with a friend and helped with the gardening. Realizing that this might be the change he was looking for, he rented some land and, using the internet and illustrated guidebooks as a reference, began growing sweet potatoes and other vegetables.
When he sees the vines growing, he thinks, “They're cute.” When insects eat the leaves, he encourages them by saying, “Keep it up.” When potato sprouts started to turn up the sheet, he said, “It felt like they were telling me to make more holes.” Growing vegetables was like having a conversation. Gradually, he started to feel more at ease, and now he doesn't get angry easily.
Growing vegetables in her garden is now at the top of her weekend to-do list. When friends invite her over, she first takes care of the vegetables. Then she gets dressed and heads over to meet them. She hands over the vegetables she harvested, saying, “These are my babies. Aren't they cute?”
Sometimes things don't go as expected. When the rows of seeds I planted don't sprout, I apologize quietly and ask someone knowledgeable in gardening for advice. When typhoons or heavy rains come, I get anxious.
“The more you take care of it, the more results you get. For me, growing vegetables is the best way to heal myself,” she said.
In a building in Tokyo
In the heart of Tokyo, there is a community garden that you can easily drop by on your way home from work. City Farm is a rental garden on the rooftop of DiverCity Tokyo Plaza, a commercial complex in Odaiba, Tokyo. A three-square-meter vegetable plot is rented out for 10,000 yen (tax included) per month. It is located right next to Fuji TV.
Actress Saori Takizawa (42) posts about her garden on social media. She has been growing vegetables at home for about 15 years. She became interested in growing vegetables after seeing her friend's family doing so. Her first experience growing vegetables was when she planted cherry tomatoes in a planter she received as a birthday present from her father.
“In the process of growing vegetables, they can be knocked down by natural disasters or wither for no apparent reason. You can't control everything, and you have to wait until the next season. That's why I find growing vegetables so rewarding,” Takizawa says passionately.
She learned about the ingredients that go into lotions and grew plants like marigolds and rosemary to make her own lotion.
“Growing vegetables is a solitary activity, but in the garden you can meet and deepen connections with many people. Growing vegetables reminds you of things you tend to forget in city life. There is a lot to gain,” she says. She exchanges information with other users and the garden staff. She also likes to share her harvest with others.
Balcony Farming
Courtesy of Maaya Ito
Maaya Ito shows off her lemon tree.
Some people enjoy gardening on their balconies. Maaya Ito (25), who lives alone in Tokyo, grows a lemon tree in a pot. She started growing lemons after getting a job during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She spent most of her time working from home. She's not one to put things off, so she would sometimes work through the night and found it hard to carve out time for herself, even though she lived alone.
He bought a potted lemon sapling and started a new life. Flower buds appeared in April of the following year, and white flowers bloomed in May. When he looked out onto the balcony during breaks from work, he saw butterflies arriving. He harvested two in the fall of that year, and three last fall. He enjoyed them with tea. “You can feel nature even in the city,” says Ito.
Items designed for women
Provided by: Mizuno Corporation
Mizuno's agricultural rainwear
There are also farm tools designed with women in mind. Mizuno, a sporting goods manufacturer headquartered in Osaka, released rainwear for agricultural use in 2022. It is designed for farm work in orchards, but can also be used for everyday use. It was originally planned as a joint project of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' Agricultural Women's Project, which supports women involved in agriculture. They also released a pouch for people who enjoy gardening at home.
As part of a project run by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, agricultural machinery manufacturer Kaneko Sogyo (Sanjo City, Niigata Prefecture) has developed farm machinery that is easy to use even for people with weak strength, and sells it under the brand name “Rakuno.” The sickle has a ribbed handle, making it easy to use even for people with weak grip strength. The shovel is made of aluminum and is lightweight.
20% enjoy home gardening
Every year, seed manufacturer Takii (Kyoto City) conducts an online survey of 600 people aged 20 or older to find out if they grow vegetables at home. The number of people who garden at home is on the decline, but 26.5% of people started gardening in 2020, and of those, 30% said they started after March of that year, when the COVID-19 pandemic began. A Takii representative analyzed the situation, saying, “They couldn't go anywhere, and there was stress from refraining from going out. They may have thought that gardening at home would be fun.”
In a survey conducted last year, 21.8% of people had vegetable gardens at home. “I think some people were surprised that they could actually grow vegetables once they started and kept doing it.”
