Tanabatake Sukusuku offers rental hydroponic space in Minato Ward, Tokyo. It was opened in 2014 by Kajima Tatemono Sogo Kanri Co., a company that maintains and manages buildings mainly in Tokyo, in order to make effective use of vacant space after tenants and shops moved away.
“A cityscape becomes dark when the number of vacant buildings increases. Lights for gardening can illuminate the city, and I hope the greenery of the vegetables is like a downtown oasis and refreshes passers-by,” said Tsuneaki Ihana, 53, of the firm’s technical information section.
Those who come to the garden can rent a container called a “bed” on a monthly basis. Up to 21 plants of one to three kinds of vegetables can be cultivated in the bed at one time. They can choose seeds from about 50 kinds including leaf lettuce, Korean lettuce and radish, or even bring their own seeds.
Staff are stationed in the garden to control temperature and humidity, measure fertilizer concentrations and closely monitor the condition of the plants. They contact cultivators when their plants require transplanting or thinning. If they cannot come to the garden due to business trips or overtime, the staff does the work for them, supporting busy office workers.
Yumiko Miura has cultivated vegetables at Tanabatake for about six months. She was visiting the garden on her way home from work to plant seedlings on the day The Yomiuri Shimbun visited.
“It’d be hard to look after plants in a home garden if I got too busy with work. But here, I can casually enjoy farming when I have time. Vegetables harvested here are delicious without seasoning,” she said.
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Source: the-japan-news.com