Urban fringe areas are in need of new land-use regulations to more effectively manage lands abandoned as a result of shrinking urban land-use, population decrease, and agricultural abandonment. This study focuses on non-industrial agricultural land-uses, defined here as non-market oriented agricultural cultivation. More specifically, this study examines the formation process of non-industrial agricultural land-uses through an analysis of the transition of agricultural land-use in two areas located within the urban fringe of greater Tokyo. Agricultural land-use transition was extrapolated from land-cover transformation determined through analysis of aerial photographs (1974 to 2000). In addition, changes in land-user and purpose of land-use were determined through interviews with local residents and agricultural census data. The results of this research indicate that, in 1974, non-industrial agricultural land-uses were primarily conducted by farmers managing 'kitchen gardens'. However, as of 2000, non-industrial agricultural land-uses have been greatly expanded and now occur on unimproved paddy fields and mulberry fields which have declined in value. Non-industrial uses are currently conducted by urban residents and farmers for personal consumption. The results of this study demonstrate that non-industrial agricultural land-uses have significant potential to manage abandoned lands in urban fringe areas.
