On a main street in Tokyo's posh Ginza district, alongside the glittering storefronts of Tiffany, Bulgari and other luxury brands, the flagship store of stationery retailer Itoya Ltd. tends a very unusual "farm."
A roughly 60-square-meter hydroponic farm was installed on the 11th floor when the Itoya building was rebuilt in 2015. Up to 200 heads of lettuce are grown pesticide-free, and then made into a fig and blue cheese salad. The salad is served in a cafe in the building for 1,750 yen ($11.30), including tax.
The company harvests about 20 kilograms of lettuce a day while foreign tourists with shopping bags watch curiously through the windows and take pictures.
"It is one of our goals to make the shop a comfortable place for customers to spend time at, not just buy stationery," a representative said.
Read more at The Asahi Shimbun