Tokyo's Organic Farmers Market

Anchor:
Fresh organic food is usually hard to come by in Japan's capital. But as NTD's Yukichi Negishi shows us, you just have to look in the right spot.

Story:
Here at Earth Day Market in Shibuya-ward, Tokyo local farmers and vendors come once a month to sell organic food and other necessities made from all-natural resources.

For Tokyo residents, this is a chance to get their kitchens filled with healthy food, as organic products are hard to find in regular supermarkets.

[Ikuma Saga, Earth Day Market Organizer]:
People in Tokyo, people in this big city, dont have a chance to meet farmers but at this market, you can talk to farmers directly which is a very good chance for city people to learn about farmers and agriculture.

Ikuma Saga says that the vendors at Earth Day Market sell the freshest organic food.

[Ikuma Saga, Earth Market Organizer]:
We like farmers who are working organic or without pesticides; we prefer those kinds of farmers. Also, we prefer local farmers because we believe that Earth Market is a kind of ecological movement.

Good organic food is a balance between reasonable price, great taste, and good health. Kanera Suzuki, a farmer from Fukushima prefecture, is selling persimmons and Jinenjo mountain yams, which took him years to grow.

[Kanera Suzuki, Suzuki Zoen]:
This is our long yam. After planting the seed, it takes three years to mature. We cultivated this real vegetable so we hope you can enjoy it."

"This is our all-natural dried persimmon. We grow it without fertilizer and without agrichemicals, so you can rest assured its safe and delicious.

Besides food, there are other great all-natural products at Earth Day Market.

Who wouldve thought volcanic ash is good for the skin? The Body Clay Company makes skin care products using just that.

[Masako Mori, Body Clay]:
Our product is called Body Clay, it's not made from dirt. Instead its made from solidified volcanic ash. Volcanic ash solidifies after erupting out of volcanoes. We get our volcanic ash from mountains in Niigata, Yamagata and Gunma prefecture."

"The volcanic ash we use, called Montmorillonite, is from Japan. When you apply it to your skin, it creates a thin layer that heals dry skin.

Earth Day Market is held once a month on Saturdays at Yoyogi Park in Shibuya. Organizers hope to have it every day, all across Japan someday.

I'm Yukichi Negishi, NTD, Tokyo, Japan.
http://english.ntdtv.com/?c=151&a=7263

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• ntd
• tokyo
• japan
• organic farm
• shibuya-ward
• organic food
• healthy
• nature
• earth
• day
• jinenjo
• yam
• new
• tang
• dynasty

[JoanLBailey]

One of Tokyo's best farmer's markets, but there are also loads of others, too, for those living here or visiting. I publish a weekly and monthly calendar of markets around town at my blog, Popcorn Homestead.

[lashmaide]

Thanks for the info.. hopefully people wont fall for the scare tactics that the media will subtly, and not so subtly, use to steer us away from growing our own...

[gstggstg]

Coud someone please give me the days on which they have this market, the time and the location? Directions from Shibuya would also be helpful. Thank you very much in advance!

[aliciamw12]

wow, type in FAT DIRECTOR and listen what this guy is doing with a farmers market!

[ResearchKnowledge123]

Let's hope this trend continues because if the large corporations have their way, your backyard garden will be outlawed. All in the name of so-called food safety and security. They want total control of the worlds food supply. research Codex Alimentarius. Bio-engineered food is a way of growing food without seeds so that a person can't re-plant the seeds. They have to buy more seed from the corporations

[hoddo3006]

I love Japan

[survivalofone]

Man, growing organic is becoming more and more lucrative with every passing year...