Ginza’s Urban Beekeeping Project Celebrates 20 Years

The rooftop beekeeping initiative in Tokyo’s upscale Ginza district marked its 20th anniversary in 2026. Launched in March 2006 with three hives on an 11-story building, the project now operates roughly 50 hives across Ginza and the neighboring Otemachi business district. The colonies, estimated at 500,000-600,000 bees, produced about 2.8 tons of honey last year, up from the initial 150 kilograms harvested in the first season. The project reports that the honey is sold online and supplied to local department stores and restaurants.

Tokyo's Ginza Marks 20 Years of Urban Beekeeping Japan Times

From its inception, the Ginza program has integrated environmental education into local elementary schools, offering tours of the rooftop apiaries and lectures on coexistence between urban environments and nature. Participants harvest honey each year from April through the end of July, using the activity to foster public awareness of urban ecology.

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The Ginza model inspired a similar rooftop beekeeping effort in Sapporo in 2010, founded by a nonprofit that consulted Ginza members for guidance. Additional installations now exist on the rooftops of the Nagoya city government building, Hagi Iwami Airport in Shimane Prefecture, Meikai University in Chiba Prefecture, and the Kiyose city government building, where honey is offered as a return gift under the furusato nozei hometown tax program.

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• “Through bees, exchanges were created on rooftops, where people wouldn’t gather,” — Shuji Sakai

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• “I hope we can take this initiative around the world so that we can think about issues related to the urban environment together,” — Atsuo Tanaka

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