Do you eat vegetables everyday? Even if you do, have you ever thought about how vegetables are produced? There are not many people who are familiar with it. If you would like to learn, “Minna Nouen” is an idea for you!

Organized by Co.to.hana, Kitakagaya Minna Nouen aims to create a shared farm. “Minna” means everyone, and “Nouen” means farm. “Minna Nouen” uses farmland that hasn’t been used in Kitakagaya, where it used to be a prosperous town for shipbuilding. These days, the town is getting popular as a town of art. Then, why Minna Nouen was born in this town?

Kitagaya Minna Nouen
A representative of Co.to.hana, Ryo Nishikawa says,

As production of shipbuilding in Kitakagaya has shifted overseas, factories and population in the city decreased. To overcome this situation, I decided to boost interactions of the local community by using lands left.

Ryo Nishikawa
What’s surprising about “Minna Nouen” is that, you can create your own farm with the team. You can discuss and design among your teammates, what the farm would like to be. Each team has their unique characters.


Through the discussion, teammates get to know each other. Eventually, the team would be able to decide their roles and responsibilities. This is how “Minnna Nouen” creates the place where people can get together, and enhance communication among people.
Ryo Nishikawa says, “My purpose is to make a connection among the locals and artists visible.”

There are many community gardens that involve a lot of people. On the other hand, “Minna Nouen” makes their garden unique, by giving opportunities to express their feeling by artwork as well.

If I have chance, I create artworks with vegetables in Minna Nouen. What would you like to do?

[via Greenz.jp written by Higashi Yoshihito]
[English Text by Masafumi Kawachi]

NEXT ACTION

Feel like looking some more pictures of “Minna Nouen”??
http://minnanouen.jp/guide/