Japan and the Japanese have a special place in our hearts at IET as we’ve had so many delightful, interested, enthusiastic Japanese visitors to Todmorden in our 17 years and they seem to have taken a particularly exceptional interest in urban growing, including what we’re doing. Judy reports.
So when I planned a trip to Japan in March 2024 I contacted my friend Kuni who had visited Todmorden and IET in May 2022 on the recommendation of a friend. He had told me then all about a project he was working on in Shibuya, Tokyo, called the Shibuya Long Farm which sounded most interesting. We stayed in touch and jointly collaborated with others to further develop links between Todmorden and Japan.
He replied that he’d love to meet up again and show me and my friend their Tokyo project and how it was developing, also indicating that the Mayor of Shibuya would like to meet us. I was assured it would all be very informal, but wasn’t quite so sure about that, having been to Japan before!
On the day (a very rainy one as you can see from the photos), we discovered the event had been advertised in City Hall and a lot of interested parties turned out. With Kuni doing a fantastic job of interpreting, we met the Mayor, local authority gardening and landscaping staff, local business people, school staff and pupils and many others. We walked along some of the route of the planned and partly started Shibuya Long Farm and saw some lovely edible gardening and landscaping created by a local farmer and other volunteers.
A meeting in the Town Hall followed. where it suddenly turned out I was to provide an IET presentation, which was followed by a lively and stimulating discussion. We were extremely warmly welcomed and the whole event very enjoyable. Although we also visited many other beautiful and fascinating places on this trip, including World Heritage sites, me and my friend both thought this far and away the high point of our trip to Japan.
Kuni is hoping to possibly visit Tod again this summer, and I’m sure if he does we’ll give him a very warm welcome back – and at least we know he’s no stranger to heavy rain so he should feel right at home!
Judy Audaer
