Japanese Commuters Tending Train Station Rooftop Gardens

March 27, 2014 by

japan 2

Photo from FastCoExist

Oh how dreadful that morning commute can be. Even with the help of podcasts, books, game apps, 16 gigs of music– it can still be a soul draining bore. Good news! Japan may have come up with a cure to Common Commuter Dread.

Soradofarm makes rooftop gardens at Japanese train stations.

Japan’s Soradofarm scheme places garden allotments on top of train stations so commuters can fit vegetable growing into their busy lifestyles. Forget to pack a lunch? No problem, just grab some of your harvest on the roof of the train station for a farm-to-cubicle meal.

Japan1Photo from FastCoExist

Here’s how it works. For one, no experience necessary. The rooftop garden plots aren’t only for the pros. Anyone can have one for JPY 100,440 a year, which buys a 3 meters squared plot along with garden tool and equipment usage. For an extra fee, arrangements can be made to have plots weeded. There are experts available for an extra fee as well.

Train stations in Japan have rooftop gardens for commuters

There are currently five Soradofarms located across the country’s rail network. They were developed in collaboration with Ekipara and JR East trains. The largest is 161 meters squared, and is part of the Ebisu Green Garden space on top of the JR Ebisu station in Tokyo. JR East plans to continue growing the rooftop gardens, hoping to encompass all of its stations in Japan in the coming years.

Besides saving us from the monotony of a morning commute, rooftop gardens cropping up all over the world offer huge benefits. City spaces are small and the time of city dwellers is stretched. We can’t let that stop us! Creatively incorporating gardening into city culture like Sorafarm did will provide large amounts of the population access to health, beauty and very importantly, sanity.

via Springwise.

5 Comments »

  1. Robert FORD said:

    Great article, Martin! and I’d love to hear more about Japan (I’m doing my senior thesis on the “cross-pollination” of ideas from the community garden movement traditions from America (and worldwide) and the unique contributions of Japan’s Urban Farm Garden and aesthetic (“Zen Garden”) movements for better urban living. If you have any links towards that end or just want to weigh in, I’d love to hear from you!

    — April 5, 2014 @ 18:36

  2. commonweeder said:

    I live out in the country and have acres at my disposal, but that era in my life is growing short so I am looking with interest at all manner of urban gardens. This is fascinating!

    — April 7, 2014 @ 10:14

  3. San Diego Home Designer said:

    Wow! This is cool. I will definitely go here once I go to Japan. Are they allowed to plant anything they want?

    — April 20, 2014 @ 23:43

  4. Right at Home: cool, but child -friendly game room - Choose My Room Pingback said:

    […] Telegram ThurstonTalkUrban GardensMy roomie’s birthday surprise!!Forsyth for Families – Free and Cheap Kid-Friendly Things to Do […]

    — May 13, 2014 @ 16:45

  5. Five Lust-Worthy Rooftop Gardens - Urban Gardens Pingback said:

    […] Japanese Commuters Tending Train Station Rooftop Gardens These Japanese commuters have finally figured out how to curtail the overwhelming boredom and […]

    — July 11, 2015 @ 11:43

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment

The freshest innovative and eco-friendly designs, trends, and ideas for urban gardens and stylish small places.

Visit Robin Horton @UrbanGardens's profile on Pinterest.

Discover more from Urban Gardens

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading