In Kiyokawa, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka City, there is a cafe “Kiyokawa Terrace Cafe+” with a vegetable factory on the corner of the main street lined with offices and hotels. We visited a healing space in the city center where hydroponic herbs, lettuce, strawberries, etc. grow in the light of LEDs.
Green space in the building
3-story building of red outer wall reflecting the image of strawberry. This is the head office of Hakobune, which handles system development projects. The cafe opened in October on the first floor of the building and is operated by the group company FOOD CRAFT JAPAN, which sells equipment for hydroponics.
At first glance, the exterior does not look like a cafe. When you enter through the front sliding door on the first floor, you will find yourself in a white corridor. It’s kind of like a laboratory. Through the window, you can see the strawberry cultivation space, and the LED light necessary for photosynthesis shines into the corridor.
“We call the room where we grow plants ‘Mirai Agricultural Lab Kiyokawa,'” says Hirotaka Otsu, the company’s sales representative. Mr. Otsu guided me to the cafe in the back of the corridor.
Herb-scented shop
The menu offered at the cafe uses vegetables grown by hydroponics. Inside the store, which has the scent of herbs, there are counter seats where you can see the plants through the window, and there are also table seats in the lab.
In the lab, we grow about 10 kinds of vegetables, including lettuce, mizuna, watercress, arugula, radishes, and strawberries. Although it depends on the type of seedlings, most of them can be harvested in 30 to 40 days.
When I sat down at a table and ordered a drink, the popular mint tea (500 yen including tax) and fresh mint lemonade with soda (600 yen) were brought to me. Freshly harvested herbs have a strong scent and make you feel refreshed.
The inside of the lab is bright with LED lights, and it feels a little humid. You can hear the sound of the water flowing through the plants, drowning out the hustle and bustle of city life.
On the food menu, you can enjoy Gapao rice (850 yen) that uses basil, which is not spicy, and meat sauce pasta with arugula (750 yen). The menu changes according to the growing conditions of the vegetables.
The café also offers soft drinks such as organic coffee (400 yen) and alcoholic beverages such as mojitos (800 yen).
Why don’t you try farming?
The cafe plays a role in spreading the advantages of hydroponic cultivation, which can be started using empty rooms in buildings, to more people and having them experience urban agriculture.
Here, vegetables are grown by controlling the temperature, humidity, and hours of sunlight in the room, and by circulating liquid fertilizer and water. Since it is indoors, there is no need to use herbicides or insecticides, and it is said that it is possible to produce crops stably regardless of the season.
Mr. Otsu says, “Farming is possible even in a limited space. I would like customers to be able to experience picking strawberries in the middle of the city.”
A source: https://sasatto.jp
