As I work on polishing up the draft of the “flower chapter” of my manuscript, the main focus of which is the “greenification” of Okinawa Island after WWII, I can’t help but notice current greenification projects. Some of the most interesting are in Tokyo, particularly in and around the Ginza district. This is where the three-year-old Ginza Honey Bee Project (Japanese home page here) is located atop the Paper & Pulp Building, home of 300,000 bees in dozens of hives. Bees are struggling in the countryside, possibly from pesticides, so it’s ironic that an urban environment like Tokyo is actually healthier for them. There are key flora in Hibiya Park and around the Imperial Palace which they pollinate and produce fair amounts of honey that is now being marketed as a specialty item at Matsuya (where it’s used in a special cake) and in a cocktail in a high-end bar. Such a cool idea to use rooftop space to keep bees that pollinate green areas around the city. Read more about the Ginza Honey Bee Project and other green projects — like the Ginza Farm and Hakutsuru Sake’s Rooftop Rice Garden — in Tokyo at Tokyo Green Space. I really wish I could get a copy of the GHBP’s poster:
