International Conference of Asian-Pacific Planning Societies 2017 Place: Nagoya Congress Center, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan Schedule: August 24(Thu)- 26(Sat), 2017 Main Theme: Creating Livable Cities for Al

AMEMIYA Mamoru

SHIMPO Naomi

新保 奈穂美

雨宮 護

Tsukuba Repository

Designing an Open Space for Social Inclusion:
An Intercultural Garden Project at the
University of Tsukuba
著者 SHIMPO Naomi, AMEMIYA Mamoru
内容記述 International Conference of Asian-Pacific
Planning Societies 2017
 Place: Nagoya Congress Center, Nagoya City,
Aichi Prefecture, Japan
 Schedule: August 24(Thu)- 26(Sat), 2017
 Main Theme: Creating Livable Cities for All
journal or
publication title
Proceedings of 2017 International Conference
of Asian-Pacific Planning Societies
page range 201-204
year 2017-08
URL http://hdl.handle.net/2241/00150607
Designing an Open Space for Social Inclusion 
An Intercultural Garden Project at the University of Tsukuba 
 
 
Naomi Shimpo* and Mamoru Amemiya* 
 
 
1. Background 
Creating an inclusive society within developed countries is essential with the increasing 
movement of migrants and refugee flows. Living with those who come from different cultures 
can lead to misunderstandings, which can result in societal conflicts. At the same time the 
Government of Japan is trying to attract and encourage outsiders to work within the country, 
owing to serious workforce shortages caused by an aging society. However, the Government has 
no specific policies indicating how to integrate immigrants into local communities. For example, 
there is evidence of existing conflict between local residents and newcomers 1). Within universities, 
which are regarded as being more international than other places, Japanese students hesitate to 
communicate with international students owing to a lack of time for intercultural exchanges and 
anxiousness regarding talking to people from diverse cultural backgrounds. This suggests that 
space and the opportunity to promote communication is needed 2). 
The concept of intercultural gardens was developed in Germany around 2000, to promote 
the social inclusion of immigrants and refugees 3). The garden represents a space where individuals 
and families from different cultures can work together with mutual respect. Communities, church 
groups, or dedicated private individuals often take the initiative to manage intercultural gardens 
and immigrants, commonly with a refugee background, are involved 4). Activities at the gardens 
encourage various learning processes and facilitate new ways of interacting between diverse 
cultures beyond conventional concepts like assimilation and integration 5). This type of space has 
the potential to help Japanese society in forming inclusive communities. 
Intercultural gardens can be regarded as part of community gardens. Indeed, Guitart et al. 
(2012, 364) define the term ‘community garden’ as ‘open spaces which are managed and operated 
by members of the local community in which food or flowers are cultivated’ 6). The authors also 
reviewed several journal articles on community gardens, with many of these discussing social 
issues. Nevertheless, the cases were mostly limited to English speaking countries, where there are 
historically more immigrants mixing with native people. Countries that expect to receive more 
immigrants in the future, such as Japan, should therefore consider the effectiveness of intercultural 
gardens for social cohesion. The number of community gardens, including intercultural gardens, 
in Japan is limited. Accordingly, the authors established an experimental intercultural community 
garden project, which was followed by action research. 
 
2. Purpose of the garden project 
     From April 2016, the authors launched an experimental project to create an intercultural 
garden at the University of Tsukuba. The purpose of the project is to manage the garden as a space 
* University of Tsukuba 
E-Mail: shimpo.naomi.gn@u.tsukuba.ac.jp 
where people from various countries 
can regularly connect in their 
everyday lives, and to examine the 
extent to which the garden can 
promote communication and mutual 
understanding. Founded in 1999, 
Muse Garden was selected as the 
project site. The total area of the 
garden is approximately 700 m2, 
which is mainly lawn (Figure-1). 
There is gardening space to grow 
vegetables, herbs and flowers. There 
is also a supply of water and 
electricity. The main entrance is 
located at point (1), which is labelled 
in Figure-1. However, most people 
enter at point (2) and pass along the 
route indicated by the arrow. 
     In the Department of Policy and Planning 
Sciences, an educational course was proposed to 
students who demonstrated an interest in managing an 
intercultural garden. Students worked as facilitators to 
design the space, organize the daily activities, and 
arrange occasional events freely. The group consisted 
of 13 students, which included eight Japanese students, 
four Chinese students and one Syrian student. This 
core group subsequently invited other students, 
researchers, and local residents to participate. The 
common language was Japanese and students who could not understand this received support 
from the other students. The authors also assisted by holding an event to attract more people when 
the students appeared to be inactive. 
 
3. Activity log in 2016 
     To promote internationalization in daily life and to facilitate regular communication 
between Japanese and international students, frequent tasks such as mowing the lawn area, 
weeding and watering the gardening space were vital (Figure-2). Therefore, the normal working 
day was set for Thursdays, between 15:00-17:00 hours during the summer semester. Throughout 
the summer vacation period, this was changed to Wednesdays from 17:00 to 18:00 hours, with 
daily watering carried out by members. 
     Some occasional events were organized by the students to attract newcomers. The Welcome 
Party, which also means ueru (planting), was held in June. This involved both the planting of 
vegetables and flowers as well as a potluck party to enjoy conversations after the garden works. 
A total of 15 people attended the party including individuals from Ukraine and Canada. The 
second event was the Starry Film Festival in October. About 30 people visited the garden to make 
pizzas, with herbs grown from the garden, using a brick oven (Figure-3) and to watch a movie 
Figure-1 Spatial plan of MUSE GARDEN 
Figure-2 Regular gardening work 
projected onto the wall of an adjacent building. The 
participants included individuals from China, Jamaica, 
Chile, Peru, Italy, Spain, and France. 
    Specific cultural events were also organized by 
the authors and students, providing an opportunity to 
highlight and promote understanding of minority 
issues. As one example, the authors proposed a 
Glühwein party, which involved collaboration with the 
German students’ community. Glühwein, a German-
style mulled wine, was prepared and served at the 
event. Twenty-six people including students from 
Germany, Russia, the USA, and Jamaica joined the 
evening. Additionally, since October, morning yoga 
has been held in the lawn area each week by a Japanese 
student, who completed a yoga course in India (Figure-
4). The instructions were conveyed in English when a 
Filipino individual participated. 
     Reflecting upon these activities, one challenge 
has proved to be setting effective strategies to involve 
newcomers with regular garden work after their first 
visit. Individuals have enjoyed the events; however, 
those from outside Japan would not regularly come to 
the garden afterwards. To understand others with 
different backgrounds, regular contact and 
communication is required. The project therefore needs more efficient rules and a promotion 
strategy to attract and engage people in the ongoing work. Spatial viewpoints should also be 
emphasized as it seems few people on campus recognize Muse Garden due to its poor visibility, 
with well-grown trees surrounding the garden. The position of the main entrance is also less 
popular than the other unintended entrances. Consequently, garden design should be reconsidered 
to include more people. 
 
4. Conclusion 
     The pilot garden project described above demonstrates the possibility that an intercultural 
garden space can attract both Japanese and non-Japanese individuals on campus. Muse Garden 
has become a platform to accommodate various needs, and to successfully stage events based on 
these. However, additional effort and effective approaches are required to promote daily 
communication between Japanese and other people. Hopefully, the project will accumulate 
knowledge as it continues to run. 
     Indeed, the project has continued in 2017 as an educational course of the Department of 
Policy and Planning Sciences at the University of Tsukuba. New Masters students contend with 
the internationalization of daily life through activities at Muse Garden. To eventually become a 
facilitator in society, students must independently develop their own ideas. Therefore, what is 
planned may be dissimilar from the previous year. Community gardens, including intercultural 
gardens, should be regarded as an excellent resource to enhance the creativity and responsibility 
of students, especially those studying urban planning. 
Figure-3 Use of a brick oven 
Figure-4 Morning-yoga 
     In terms of implementation in broader society, a concrete research plan is required to 
elucidate how intercultural gardens can contribute to encouraging the social inclusion of migrants. 
Based on the precedent knowledge obtained through the pilot project, the authors plan to facilitate 
more activities. Subsequently, how participants' feelings change towards others from a different 
culture will be examined based upon interview surveys in relation to the degree of commitment 
to the garden. The interview data will be transcribed and analyzed using inductive coding methods. 
This analysis will examine whether intercultural gardens can encourage people to understand each 
other and what spatial design or activities contribute to this. Furthermore, to consider the wider 
applicability of the project, participants from the local community outside the campus will be 
sought. 
 
 
Keywords:  
urban gardening, community garden, migrants, public open space management, education, 
action research 
 
 
Acknowledgements: 
This project is funded by the Research Grant Program 2016, the Toyota Foundation. 
 
 
Reference: 
1) Komai M. Construction of the Communities of Foreign People in Japan and Their Down Spiral. 
Bulletin of Tokyo University and Graduate School of Social Welfare 1(1), 2010, 49-54, Japanese. 
2) Kojima N., T. Uchino, N. Isobe, J. Takata, M. Nihonmatsu, Y. Okamoto, Y. Miyake, R. Jinnin, 
H. Yashiki and M. Yoshihara. Inward-oriented Japanese students and international exchange. 
General Health Science (Sougou-Hoken-Kagaku), 31, 2015, 35-42, Japanese. 
3) Moulin‐Doos, C.. Intercultural gardens: The use of space by migrants and the practice of 
respect. Journal of Urban Affairs, 36(2), 2014, 197-206, English. 
4) Müller, C. Intercultural gardens: urban places for subsistence production and diversity. German 
Journal of Urban Studies, 46(1), 2007, 1-6, English. 
5) Schermer, M. Transnational at home: Intercultural gardens and the social sustainability of cities 
in Innsbruck, Austria. Habitat y Sociedad, (7), 2014, 55-76, English. 
6) Guitart D., C. Pickering and J. Byrne. Past results and future directions in urban community 
gardens research. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 11, 2012, 364-373, English 
 


Designing an Open Space for Social Inclusion: An Intercultural Garden Project at the University of Tsukuba

https://tsukuba.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=45331&item_no=1&attribute_id=17&file_no=1

Designing an Open Space for Social Inclusion: An Intercultural Garden Project at the University of Tsukuba

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Tsukuba Repository