Hong Kong Woman Pursues Agriculture in Japan to Realize Dream Sprouted from Rooftop Gardening
“When I first ate a cucumber that I had grown, I was blown away by the richness of the taste,” Wong recalled.
By Shiomi Kadoya
Japan News Staff Writer
December 5, 2023
Excerpt:
In 2020, gardening gained popularity among Hong Kongers amid tight pandemic regulations, as well as the national security law enacted that year by the Chinese government in response to the 2019 pro-democracy protests in the city.
Wong also turned to gardening as a refreshing outdoor hobby, renting a roof-top gardening space for 600 Hong Kong dollars (about ¥11,000) per month. She grew cucumbers, bitter gourds and other vegetables.
“When I first ate a cucumber that I had grown, I was blown away by the richness of the taste,” Wong recalled. “It was completely different from what we buy at supermarkets.”
As her interest in farming grew with the vegetables, she found out about the Chiba college through a friend of Hong Kongers living in Japan. It is almost impossible to find agriculture land in Hong Kong, and after the Japan-based Hong Kongers told her of labor shortages in the Japanese agriculture sector, it sparked her interest in studying and eventually working in Japan.
