‘They taste different’: Japanese farmers grow vegetables next to one of world’s busiest airports
Farms next to Tokyo’s main international gateway are trapped inside a web of taxiways used by planes
You can’t choose your neighbours, as Japanese organic farmer Takao Shito knows all too well after a decades-long battle against Narita – the country’s second busiest airport.
His farm is virtually surrounded by Narita airport, and jets from around the world roar down right next door to his rows of peas and radishes, whose green leaves wave in the spring breeze.
“You get used to the noise,” the soft-spoken 68-year-old said on his farm, most of which is only accessible via tunnels underneath the airport.
“These are pieces of land farmed by three generations for nearly a century, by my grandfather, my father and myself. I want to continue living here and farm.”
His fight, along with a handful of other families, has proved a major headache for Narita, which marks its 40th anniversary this year.
The airport is Tokyo’s main international gateway and handles 40 million passengers and 250,000 flights a year.
Narita has been controversial in the region since it was first proposed by the government in 1966 as a three-runway facility, sparking protests by activists and farmers including Shito’s father.
