In Tokyo, Workers Share an Office With an Urban Farm

Japan is an incredibly dense, urban country, with little room for sprawling farms, and more than half the country’s food is imported from other countries. But new methods of urban farming—in places like an underused semiconductor factory and on train station roofs—are helping offset that. 

French photographer Hélène Veilleux went inside one of these farms hidden inside the concrete jungle. At the headquarters of Pasona, a human resources firm based in Tokyo, plants and workers intermingle in an office building-slash-hydroponic farm designed by the architecture firm Kono Designs.  

With 200 species of fruits, vegetables, and rice growing over 43,000 square feet, office workers are constantly surrounded by agriculture. Tomato vines dangle above conference tables, and the lobby features a rice paddy. Flowers and fruit trees grow on balconies. 

Here's what's hidden inside Pasona's headquarters: 

Check out more of Veilleux's photos on Flickr. 

[h/t: Bored Panda]