Honey made on Ginza’s rooftop
Ginza Mitsubachi Project (NPO)

Ginza has been Tokyo’s centre for luxury, high society and shopping for more than 100 years, with a number of brand shops, boutiques and prestigious department stores. Yet, here on the rooftop, the Ginza Mitsubachi (Bee) Project, a Non-Profi t Organisation, has been beekeeping in this green urbanised area since 2006.

The project’s goal is to unite the hearts of people in Ginza. This unique plan has succeeded in keeping Western honeybees on the roof of the Kami Pulp Kaikan in Ginza 3-chome, and today the Marronnier Gate, a business complex in Ginza 2-chome, has an apiary on its roof. This year, these “Bee Gardens” house several hives of some hundred thousand bees and have gained 800kg of honey.

Flavours, tastes and colours vary depending on sources of honey.

“We are growing honeybees on Ginza’s rooftops. Our dream is that Ginza’s rooftops will become home for thousands of honeybees.” This was written in the project’s brochure.”When we started the project, some people were worried if the honeybees would fly around town,” recalled Atsuo Tanaka, vice president of the Ginza Mitsubachi Project.

Their staff explained the importance of the greening of Ginza and how they grew bees. Soon, the project gained public acceptance.
Today, their honey is made into sweets, cuisines and cocktails by well-known confectionery shops that can be purchased in Ginza, and are so popular that they take little time to be sold out.