New to Tokyo: Rooftop Buckwheat Farming

A buckwheat field is growing this summer on a rooftop in Kanda, a business district of central Tokyo famous for its soba (buckwheat) noodle shops. The idea was born during a chat between Ichiro Horii of "Edo-Kanda-Sobanokai," a society that aims to keep buckwheat noodles alive as a part of the traditional Japanese food culture in Kanda, Edo (Edo is the old name for Tokyo), and an owner of a building nearby.Their conversation was like a tiny seed that is now coming into bloom.

The owner of the building, hoping to interact with local residents and contribute to the community, has offered his rooftop space for free. Employees working in the building have volunteered to water and maintain the rooftop field.

Local primary school children are invited to take part in planting and harvesting. Buckwheat is seeded around the middle of July and generally produces flowers in September. It can generally be harvested in about 70 days. As it is their first attempt, however, their crop yield is difficult to estimate.

The Tokyo metropolitan government has been promoting rooftop greening as one way to help mitigate the heat-island effect which has caused average temperatures in the city to rise steadily over time, but this attempt has not made satisfactory progress so far. Growing plants in rooftop gardens is generally difficult because space is often taken up by equipment such as air conditioners. Steps are also necessary to reduce the additional weight load of gardens, using light materials such as artificial soil. This new trial is expected to help revitalize the local area.




Posted: 2003/09/27 11:51:50 AM
Japanese version