Agriculture is perhaps the last thing you'd associate with teeming downtown Tokyo. In all fairness, it's probably a good bet that the majority of citizens who pass the run-of-the-mill office high-rise in the course of their daily commute would hardly guess that high-tech urban farming activities are taking place below their feet. Tokyo, after all, has a lot of citizens.
Pasona02 occupies six separate rooms and around 10,000 square feet of a former bank vault in Tokyo's business district. The urban farm was created by the Pasona Group to engage job-seekers of all ages in agricultural activities in the hopes of bolstering Japan's declining agricultural sector. In the absence of natural sunlight or weather conditions, Pasona02 relies on state-of-the-art technology to maintain optimal growing conditions. A wide variety of lamps provide customized lighting conditions while the air temperature is controlled by computer. The farm also practices hydroponic growing methods in which crops receive water directly rather than through soil. In all, Pasona02 raises around 100 crops, including fruits, vegetables, flowers, herbs, and rice.
Given its massive energy consumption, the farm is hardly considered sustainable, but then, it was never meant to be. Rather, its purpose is to educate participants on the importance of agriculture and to harness the creativity and drive of a new generation of Japanese farmers.