Discover the high-tech future of Japanese farming

Junichiro Harai's farmland is found in a chasm cutting between the many buildings in his Japanese city. This is a rare sight, as times are bleak for Japanese agriculture. There are ever fewer farmers and as land is scarce, it is expensive. Many can no longer afford its upkeep.

JUNICHIRO HARAI: "No one just decides to take up farming nowadays. There are fewer and fewer farmers. The property taxes we have to pay when we pass on our farm to the next generation are just too expensive. That's why lots of farmers sell off bits of their land to pay taxes."

NARRATOR: Should Harai's son decide against taking over his father's farm he too will have to sell his plot of farmland. Downtown Tokyo - a temporary employment agency is trying to stir people's interest in farming. They plan to recruit an new generation of farmers with urban agriculture. The idea is to grow crops in the middle of the city. This is the future of Japanese agriculture, an artificial world using high-tech LEDs in lieu of sunshine. A vast cellar has been transformed into a computer-controlled Garden of Eden. What we are marvelling at here is already being put into practice on 30 farms in Japan. Crops on a high-tech farm like this don't just grow as well as plants in nature, they grow even better.

ITZUO KAMIUE: "This type of agriculture will continue to grow in Japan. One of the advantages is that it is independent of weather conditions, making it easier to have a successful and predictable harvest. Furthermore, it's very ecological. We don't have to use chemicals. And this type of farming requires very little previous knowledge, which makes it easier for people to become farmers."

NARRATOR: Hydroponics, or soilless cultivation, is standard practice on farms like these. The cost of electricity is more than offset by the high yields as it is possible to harvest more often than on an outdoor farm. And what is grown is exclusively high-quality and organic, so it fetches a handsome price. However, one of the most convincing arguments for high-tech farms like these is that they save an amazing amount of space. So there are more than enough good reasons to pursue high-tech urban farming, thus creating a promising outlook for the next generation of Japanese farmers.