Potato or Rose: Global Warming and Urban Agriculture, Yokohama Style, Shiba Seaside Village of Belssings 柴シーサイド恵みの里

 

First, what’s there in Shiba Seaside Village of Blessings? The place is an amalgam of local farming fields, roughly 3/4 of the area, and public allotments, 1/4. The Village spreads over the ridge of a steep hill whose east slope is housing area of Shiba Town tumbling down to the Tokyo Bay. The other three directions are still forests geographically continuing from Shomyoji Citizen Forest 称名寺市民の森 (; my post for December 4, 2015). The project for Land Improvement District sorted out previously scattered small patches of veggie fields in a forest and widened the cultivable land on the ridge.

The map shown at the admin office

The forest to the east

The professionally cultivated farmlands receive funding from Yokohama Green Tax to organize regular public events. Some are weekly, and the others are seasonal. Every weekend, Saturday and Sunday morning (8:00-) except New Year’s holidays, they hold a farmers’ market in the open space of admin building. I tell you it’s a popular market so that almost all the products are sold out before noon. Seasonally, they have 3 events for farming experience, all from 9:00-14:00 (to register at the admin office: the contact address is at the end of this post). They are

🥔Potato Harvesting

From mid-May to mid-June, except Monday, or until potato is there.

1000 yen per portion


Taro Harvesting

Every Saturday from early-November to mid-December, or until taro is there.

1000 yen per portion (2 clumps … I think it’s a bargain!)


🍊Tangerine Harvesting

From mid-October to the end of November (for Unshuh variety), and the first two weeks of December (for Hayaka variety which is SWEET), or until the fruits are there.

All you can eat in the orchard (with time limit), and you can bring your harvest home.

Elementary school kids + : 1200 yen

3-5 years old: 500 yen

0-2 years old: free

In early October,
tangerines were waiting for the harvest time.

It seems to me one of the farmers are thinking banana
 ... serious?

The Admin Office

The remaining 1/4 of the Village is the allotment gardens managed by JA Yokohama. There are 510 allotments and the cost for renting varies around 10000 yen per year according to the section. The contract duration is 5 years and renewable. In addition to agreeing these basics, the conditions for application are (1) you have to be registered as a resident for the City of Yokohama, (2) one section per family, i.e. you and your spouse must share the same allotment. The renters can build a shed if they like for their tools. In the admin office building, there are shower rooms and rockers for allotmenteers. I met one lady there nurturing her sweet potato. She said “You know, this year was hard for tomato, but I’m fairly content with my bell peppers. The problem is, I love to plant veggies, but my husband wants to have roses. It’s a family problem!” Sure. As of November 30, 2025, there are 46 vacant sections among 510 allotments. If you think to try your veggie in Yokohama, please make a contact with the admin office shown at the end of this post.

Allotment section for Shiba Seaside Village

The water problem of the Village is somehow controlled. By the project, they built a pump house which collects the rainwater and uses groundwater vein. Surely such technological setting was not possible for subsistence farming before the project. Still, especially with the heatwave of this year, everybody had to accommodate with available water. For allotmenteers, the faucet for their section was opened for about 2-3 hours each day during this summer. They had to adjust their daily schedule for tending their plants. That lady told me the JA considerably allocated the water-time mainly for early evenings so that the risk of heatstroke for people was lessened. Still, she said “Well, you know, we’re seriously thinking the veggies we can nurture in summer these couple of years. I’m strongly opposed to my husband’s plan for roses, a heavy drinker.” Er, well. Here is another problem Global Warming can bring to a family table …

The pumping station for the Village

Even so, Shiba Village is a peaceful place. The sections are spreading over (artificially perhaps) mild slope of a hill going down to the sea. The vista is spectacular. One of the personnel for JA Yokohama told me, when he thinks hitting a wall in his work, he always visits here and takes deep breaths in the veggie patches surrounded by forests and sea. What’s in store next for Shiba Village with the new era of Global Warming? No one knows for sure. But at least we locals of Yokohama are thinking whether rose or potato, while harvesting tangerines. 😉

To the Tokyo Bay

The access to Shiba Seaside Village of Blessings is mainly by car. The direction is shown here. With public transportation, the easiest would be from Umino-koen Shibaguchi Station 海の公園柴口 of Kanazawa Seaside Line. You get off the monorail service at the Station and walk a bit to Shiba Fishing Port. Cross the street at Shiba Fishing Port Traffic Light and go straight to the direction of the hill, passing Bakery Bremen and Tairaya Supermarket. Cross another traffic light in front of the Tairaya to the direction of the hill, and start climbing steep slope, higher and higher. Suddenly, you realize you reach the ridge, and the Village is spreading before you. In the middle of the farming field, there is a building which is the admin office.

Umino-koen Shibaguchi Station

The bakery. We go up to the top of the hill over there.

The contact for Shiba Seaside Village of Blessings 柴シーサイド恵みの里 is,

Administration Office, JA Yokohama Shiba Farm
Phone: 045-785-6844
Fax：045-788-8588

Updating a Traditional Life: Miura Peninsula and Shiba Megumino-sato 柴恵みの里

 

To Tenjin-jima Marine Biological Garden 天神島臨海自然教育園, we took bus sneaking through the edge of hills going down to Sagami Bay. Miura Peninsula is basically like this. Hills or petit mountains bear down on the seashore which is mainly rocky. The geography actually starts from Yokohama. Beyond the south border for Yokohama are 4 cities, Fujisawa, Kamakura, Zushi, and Yokosuka. Among them, Kamakura, Zushi, and Yokosuka are geologically a part of the Miura Peninsula, so is the communities in the south Yokohama. They do not have much flat land. Behind the touristic coast are hills where now mainly residential area covers the steep slopes and not so wide ridges. Sometimes, the original forests remain like Mt. Ogusu (; my posts for April 2024) and Hiromachi Ryokuchi (; my posts for March 2025). Before when Japanese economy was mainly of agriculture especially rice cultivation, such given condition of small space for rice paddies was not so enjoyable. Inevitably, old communities in Miura Peninsula traditionally have engaged in fishery and procured agricultural products with cash (Oral Record for Kanagawa’s Table 聞き書き神奈川の食事, in “Collected Works for Japanese Traditional Diet, vol. 14 日本の食生活全集 14,” Toda City, Nobunkyo 農文協, 1992, ISBN 978-4540920028).

Near Marine Biological Garden.
People establish themselves in
 a narrow street run between
the steep slope and seashore.

So there are the Sajima Fishing Port and the ethnographical exhibitions in the museum of Tenjin-jima Marine Biological Garden. This is true even for Yokohama. The City of Yokohama, of 3.8 urban people with a large container terminal for international trade, has a fisheries cooperative, proudly call themselves City of Yokohama Fisheries Cooperative. Guess where their office locates. Yep. At the beginning of geological Miura Peninsula. They are in Shiba Town 柴 of Kanazawa Ward 金沢区. Shiba Town is next to Kanazawa Town where Shomyoji Citizen Forest 称名寺市民の森 (; my post for December 4, 2015) and the remnants of the oldest libraries in Japan, Kanazawa Bunko 金沢文庫. Shiba Town is an old community. In the place we’re going to visit this week they have a Koshin-zuka 庚申塚 built during the 18th century. Koshin-zuka was constructed based on the belief for Taoism imported from China around the 15th century. Taoists said once in 60 days, there comes a day of Koshin when 3 bad worms in human body tattle the bad behavior of their landlord on a mighty god in heaven. To prevent the consequence of such snitch, on the day of Koshin people had a mini festival without sleep. When people had held such worship for 3 years of 60 Koshin days, the community built a monument called Koshin-zuka as a protective diety for the village, warding off the bad spirits to enter. Such folk religion was very common during the 17th and the 18th century, and lots of Koshin-zuka was constructed all over Japan. Now many are removed for development. But if a community is old and old families established themselves there centuries ago, we can find Koshin-zukas (yeah, plural) somewhere. Shiba Town is surely such place with Koshin Zuka.

The yesteryear’s way of life for Sajima Fishing Port

Koshin-zuka for Shiba Community

From the hill for Shomyoji Temple Citizen Forest, the slope rapidly goes down to Tokyo Bay where we can find a popular amusement park called Hakkeijima Sea Paradise 八景島シーパラダイス. In front of the Sea Paradise, there is Shiba Fishing Port with Fisheries Cooperative. People in Shiba has been fishermen for centuries. They also harvested veggies from small field on the ridge, in the forest continuing from Shomyoji Citizen Forest. The fishermen had difficulties to find a place for rice paddies, the most important ag product in Japan and once treated as money for centuries. Villagers of fishing community made do with vegetables for home consumption from the small veggie patches. Their farmland was only in the forest covering the ridge. Water was/is scarce. Industrial revolution gave the fishermen chances to earn cash nearby from office or factory jobs, but they still cannot cultivate rice. Life there was hard. Then, in the second half of the 20th century, the community had influx of new members from housing development. They were/are city rats. The new and old members of Shiba community did not have a contact. Meanwhile, the number of people who engaged in traditional fishery-farming was dwindling. This was Yokohama. If you like, there were/are lots of office and factory jobs. By the way, over there in front of the fishing port is the leading factory of Nissan. Why bother the old thing? The farmlands on the ridge inthe f orest were neglected, then abandoned.

Shiba Fishing Port

I don’t know what made them change their mind. But the historical fact is like this. The old community of Shiba thought such situation was not good. In 1988, they asked the Prefectural Office help for change. In 1990, the Prefecture designated the ridge area of abandoned farmland and the forest Land Improvement District for agriculture. The Office let the Shiba people form a committee to plan the land improvement project. Next year, actual implementation of the project started, and completed 15 years later in 2006. The work included the idea of minimum disturbance over the ecosystem of water-scarce area. The soil of the area was not moved. The precautionary design was applied for preventing landslides from steep slopes. The area has become a model case for the Prefecture and the City of Yokohama for agricultural development involving the old and new communities of the area. New community? You may think. That’s the point of this place, called Shiba Megumino-sato 柴恵みの里, or Shiba Village of Blessings. Let’s go there next week😉

Shiba Town is pasted on a very steep hill.

If you have any questions about Yokohama’s Green Tax and Green Up Plan, please make a contact with

Strategic Planning Division, Green Environment Bureau, City of Yokohama
横浜市みどり環境局戦略企画課

Phone: 045-671-2712
FAX: 045-550-4093 

Email: mk-kikaku@city.yokohama.lg.jp

Slanted: Tenjin-jima Marine Biological Garden for the Yokosuka City Museum 天神島臨海自然教育園

 

Keep on walking the road where the former imperial villa stands. It will end up at Sajima Marina, the port for pleasure boats established in 1965 with a hotel. Before reaching there, first we meet with the North Entrance for the Tenjin-jima Marine Biological Garden with the Admin Office. You can enter from here, or walk a few minutes more passing a Shintoism Shrine, which is a typical arrangement of pre-1945 Japanese high society. Soon on our right we are welcomed by South Entrance of the Garden with the visitor centre and parking spaces. To this point we are walking along a fenced forest. This is a curious forest of Tenjin-jima Marine Biological Garden. As it has a peculiar feature, we cannot enter inside the forest without permission. So, please enjoy it while you‘re walking to the Garden Gate. Oh, one important notice. The toilets are available in the buildings at North and South Gates, but no facility inside the garden itself. If you need it, please complete the necessary thing before venturing into the Garden.

The North Entrance for the Garden.
A cute house for admin purpose would be
 the remnant of Imperial summer cottage.

Shintoism shrine

The forest.
As this is the part along the road to the Marina,
comparatively speaking the area is relatively
well secluded from the direct sea winds and splashes.

The area of Tenjin-jima Marine Biological Garden is designated Natural Treasure of Yokosuka City and strictly protected as a nature reserve. We cannot beach-comb or take a petit crab home for souvenir. Instead, the visitor centre of the Garden has a good museum. It is small, but explains quite well the ecosystem of the Garden and the folkloric feature of the community around Sajima Fishing Port. According to the exhibitions, the sea in the Biological Garden has more than 100 species of sea slugs. The number species in the family of shellfish is also phenomenal. There are also baby sea creatures. Many of them found refuge in the nooks of rocky beach where the strong current of Pacific Ocean is moderated by the undersea geology. Many fishes of tropical area which reach this far north stay here during summer and even hatch eggs. The adults or babies of tropical species cannot survive cold water of winter and die. Come next spring, the new tropical creatures come ... the exhibition says marine biologists doubt if the number of such fishes are increasing in the Garden. They watch. It‘s the frontline to observe Global Warming.

The Visitor Centre at the South Gate

Many aquariums for creatures of the Garden
welcome us at the entrance.

The models of sea slugs living in the Garden.
They are so beautiful.
According to the exhibition,
they were once shell fishes but changed their mind
 and threw away the cumbersome shell.
In order to protect their body without shells,
they armed themselves with poison. Whoops.

They have colouring pictures of living things in the Garden,
 free of charge, for us to take as souvenirs.

Yesteryear’s artefacts of old fishing village

Outside, there is a how-to notice to enjoy the Garden.

Outside the Visitor Centre, there begins the strolling path of the Garden. Having said that, the path of the Garden is only one, circling the curious forest. On our right if we come from the Visitor Centre, there is a fence and a forest. On our left is rocky shore of Miura Peninsula. Provided watching your kids well and behaving carefully, you can venture into the places of tidal pools and complicated seashores around rocks. The geology of the Garden is also interesting as the strata created 5 or more million years ago below sea could be observed first hand. We can find volcanic ashes of probably gigantic eruption piled up in the bottom of the sea and pushed up by tectonic movement. Tiny fishes, crabs, barnacles ... all in the pool and quickly tried to make a distance from human shadows ... Hey, I don‘t harm you. I just only watch how you live there ... The crannies between volcanic strata are filled with conglomerates and fragments of shells. Beautiful unbroken shells of cowry can be found here and there. The living versions must live under sea here. Please do not take them home. Return the cowry to the beach. This is a protected area.

Outside the Visitor Centre.
The beginning for the strolling path
 and over there is an opening to the shore.

Many families enjoyed autumn sea.

I tried to photo the baby fishes ...

This vertical stratum tells us
the humongous power of tectonic movement.

Here, the volcanic conglomerates were
locked in the pile of ashes
 then received gigantic pressure
 to be a part of a rock ... 5 million years ago?

The place is actually an island connected to the Miura Peninsula only with the Tenjin Bridge. To the west of the Garden there is a tiny reef, Kasa-jima, which is prohibited to visit unless you have an official permit for scientific research. The intention of private life for the imperial family 80 years ago protected the area as a nature reserve. The forest in the middle of the island must have been a part of their intention. I guess when Prince and Princess were here, the Marina was not there. So, the forest was a bit larger and natural rocky shore surrounded entire island where the forest situated at the center and an imperial villa at the entrance. The vegetation of the forest was those strong ones which do not care much strong salty winds and water from sandy soil. Near the Visitor Centre, there is a patch in the forest where crinum lilies grow wild. Actually, this is the northern-most spot for them to live naturally in Japanese archipelago. Curiously, all the plants in the forest are slanted to the north as if they are parry sea winds. The person who‘s taking care of the place told me this summer the inside was affected by a long outbreak of tussock moths. Their caterpillars ate leaves bare for many camelias and large trees inside. Lots of withered trees over the fence, she said. Yeah, Miura Peninsula is warm, but too long summer, good for the moth, would be due to the global warming ...

Kasa-jima over there

The path for the Garden runs like this.

The patch for crinum lilies

Ampelopsis glandulosa var. heterophylla

Japanese cheesewood,
a typical coast plant for Kanagawa Prefecture.
They thrive on such a rocky and sandy soil ...

The plants inside the fence are growing
to the direction of the “mainland,”
away from the sea, it seems to me.

Lilium maculatum,
another typical coast plant for Kanagawa.
They still had flowers in late October.

Looking the forest from the seashore.
They are not tall trees, certainly.

Peeking in the forest. Hmmmmmmm …

Looks wild enough.

Moths-infested inside.

Many suggestions have been observed in the Botanical Garden for climate change. It would be a sign how fragile the ecosystem of the Garden. We should be attentive for this place to survive as a playing ground for tiny sea creatures. I imagine the vibrant sea life was one of the things the imperial couple loved ... I‘ve been there in a weekend of October and found many families enjoying sea creatures. I guess if it had been in the mid-summer, the place would be congested and the visitors sometimes have to wait for a parking space. If you go there during winter, the crowd should be smaller. For a sunny day without wind, the Garden is a therapeutic place. Please try, and experience imperial sitting in the winter sun. It is refreshing, I tell you.

Tenjin-jima Marine Biological Garden 天神島臨海自然教育園

3-7-3 Sashima, Yokosuka, 240-0103
〒240-0103　 神奈川県横須賀市佐島3丁目7-3

Phone: 046-856-0717
Fax: 046-856-0717

Open

9：00 - 17：00 (April-September),  9：00 - 16：30 (October-March)

Closed

Every Monday (or if Monday is National Holiday, Tuesday) and December 29 -January 3

Admission Free

You can send an enquiry to m-bes@city.yokosuka.kanagawa.jp

Keepsake of a Prince: Tenjin-jima Marine Biological Garden for the Yokosuka City Museum 天神島臨海自然教育園

 

The shores of Tokyo Bay are more or less concreted. Since Tokyo became the center of Japanese politics in 1600, people has continuosly engaged in massive civil engineering projects such as reclamation and changing the course of rivers. Now the look we have for the Bay is as such. Even though, there remains few spots where we can experience the remnants of original ecosystem. The previous Tone River and Arakawa River poured in the Bay from the east. The east shores of Tokyo Bay were a low land delta of these rivers. The remaining natural shores of the Bay for Chiba Prefecture are tidal flats of shallow sea. The west shores of the Bay, i.e. Kanagawa side, were the continuation of such flats until around Kan‘nai business district of Yokohama where in the 19th century many ships from overseas arrived. When Japan ended national isolation in 1854 and decided to have the Port of Yokohama in 1859, the first thing people thought was how to supply flesh water for longhaul ships. Yokohama at that time was a tiny village floating in a muddy swamp. Well water was/is salty. And so, there was the construction of the first modern water supply system in Japan for Yokohama, blah blah blah (; my post for January 12, 2018).

Concreted Port of Yokohama

The current Yokohama Chinatown is more or less the end of tidalflats. To the south from Yokohama Yamate (neighboring town to the Chinatown) to the tip of Miura Peninsula, the shores were created by plate techtonics. When the Philippine Plate crawled underneath the Eurasian Plate about 20 -15 million years ago, the earth‘s energy pushed up the deep sea sedimentary mass above water which is the origin of Miura Peninsula. Especially the south of the Miura Peninsula is coastal terraces where small but steep hills are tumbling down to the Tokyo and Sagami Bays, i.e. deep and rocky. That‘s the reason why the US 7th Fleet with an aircraft career uses the Port of Yokosuka. As its geological feature gives nice condition for humans to build ports, Miura Peninsula has lots of harbors, and so concreted. Even though, there are several natural seashores where we can enjoy the sea. One of such place is Tenjin-jima Marine Biological Garden 天神島臨海自然教育園 for the Yokosuka City Museum. It has a curious forest.

This is also Yokohama, 
in Nojima Island of Kanazawa Hakkei
 (; my post for September 2, 2022)
which is the south end of Yokohama.
Geologically,
this place shows one feature of coastal terrace.

The easiest access to the Garden is by car. It has an ample car park. You command your Car Navigation System to Tenjin-jima Marine Biological Garden, Yokosuka, and all set. I guess during summer, this parking MUST be very congested ... Using public transformation is another fun to go there. For this method, please go to the terminal station Zushi-Hayama of Keikyu Zushi Line. Leave the station from the South Exit and you immmeidately notice there is a Convini 7/11 over there and a bus stop in front of it. From there, please take Keikyu Bus Zu-71 逗-71 that brings us to Sajima Marina Entrance, the terminal stop. It‘s about 40 minutes bus ride, passing the gate of Imperial Summer House in Hayama, 葉山御用邸. I you remember our bus ride from the foot of Mt. Ogusu (; my post for April 24, 2024), this is the way we took from the opposite direction. Now we see Sagami Bay on our right from the bus. This time, the commuter service turn right before reaching the bus stop we used from Mt. Ogusu. The bus goes into Sajima housing area and reach the top of the hill, then descend down to Sajima Fishing Port. The final stop of this service, Sajima Marina Entrance, is next to the Fishing Port.

This is the bus which brings us to Sajima Marina Entrance,

and the terminal stop of Sajima Marina Entrance.

Get off at the terminal stop, and you‘ll find a cafe Portland‘s on your left. Take the road to the cafe‘s direction and turn left to a road in front of Portland‘s. Along the road, on your left is a Japanese restaurant Hikonoya, and on your right is a Italian restaurant AzzurrA Mare SAJIMA. I tell you both are at the high-end. There’s a reason for it. Passing AzzurrA Mare, there is a small bridge named Tenjin Bridge, and beyond of it on our right, there is an elegant white house with a large garden. It was a summer house of Prince Takeda … Explaining this princely house is a bit complicated … The Prince was a descendant of the 102nd Emperor Gohanazono (1419-1471). Emperor Meiji, Great-Great Grandfather of the current Emperor, had only one prince who came of age, i.e. Emperor Taisho, the Great Grandfather of the present Emperor. Japanese government at that time was afraid of the end of Imperial Family. Er, well, Meiji Emperor had 15 kids with 5 ladies (none the Empress). Among them 4 princesses survived and became adult enough to be a bride. So Meiji people did not have to worry if they were more female friendly. This way of thinking still continues for the current succession issues of Emperor in Japan … Anyway, the government at that time dug up the old documents to find a guy who had some blood relation to the Imperial family. They found and let him marry the 6th Princess of Emperor Meiji. In this way, the new Imperial family man became Prince Takeda and a younger brother of Emperor Taisho for the just-in-case scenario. Such thing did not happen, and the son of Emperor Taisho became Emperor Showa who met General McArther in 1945 after the defeat of the Pacific War. Prince Takeda returned to be a common man under the occupation by the US commander. Until that 1945 the graceful white house beyond Tenjin Bridge was the summer house of Prince and Princess Takeda. The princely family thought they should have such place near Hayama where their elder brother, Emperor Taisho, loved. Also, they secluded the place beyond the Tenjin Bridge as their private garden. That’s why now we had Tenjin-jima Marine Biological Garden, escaping concreat except the foundation of princely house. Next week, let‘s enter this nature reserve.

Portland‘s Cafe

Take the direction of the arrow.

Hikonoya

AzzurrA Mare SAJIMA

Tenjin Bridge. It‘s small.
Over there on the right is a former Imperial Summer House.
It is now a private property of a commoner.
Oh, by the way,
the place for Prince Takeda‘s principal residence is
 now Takanawa Prince Hotel in Tokyo.

Tenjin-jima Marine Biological Garden 天神島臨海自然教育園

3-7-3 Sajima, Yokosuka, 240-0103
〒240-0103　 神奈川県横須賀市佐島3丁目7-3

Phone: 046-856-0717
Fax: 046-856-0717

Open 9：00 - 17：00 (April-September), 10月〜3月　9：00 - 16：30 (October-March)
Closed: Every Monday (or if Monday is National Holiday, Tuesday) and December 29 -January 3
Admission Free

You can send an enquiry to m-bes@city.yokosuka.kanagawa.jp