Photo/Illutration Participants of the Marunouchi Honey Project collect honey on the roof of a building in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward on May 15. (Michinori Ishidaira)

From towers to flowers, honeybees are hard at work in the major business districts around Tokyo Station—thanks to an urban beekeeping initiative that is now in its 10th year of existence.

The Marunouchi Honey Project helps preserve urban biodiversity by raising honeybees in Tokyo’s Marunouchi and Otemachi districts. These bees are cared for by office workers from nearby companies.

On a weekday morning in mid-May, about 25 project participants gathered to collect honey in the apiary on the roof of the nine-story Otemachi Building in the Otemachi district.

Participants set honeycomb panels taken from 10 hives into a honey-extracting centrifuge. They erupted in cheers as the smooth golden honey began to flow out.

Mai Tozaki, 27, who works at the Marunouchi Hotel near Tokyo Station, said, “We produce honey locally here. We hope people will try it.”

Sold as “Marunouchi Honey,” it is also used by the hotel’s restaurants and other nearby eateries.

The project was launched in 2016.

An executive committee was formed by the community development organizations of the Otemachi, Marunouchi and Yurakucho districts, as well as companies in the areas, such as Mitsubishi Estate Co.

Since then, the committee has continued its urban beekeeping activities to improve the attractiveness of the local community.

Following apiaries in the Shin-Tokyo Building and Shin-Marunouchi Building, an apiary was opened on the rooftop of the Otemachi Building in March this year.

The project aims to collect 600 to 700 kilograms of honey from the Otemachi apiary this year.

The honeybees kept by the project can fly 3 to 4 kilometers to collect nectar. There are abundant sources of nectar within a 2-km radius of the apiary, including the Imperial Palace and Hibiya Park, which are both rich in nature.

The bees collect nectar from various flowers in the seasons, which results in honey with different colors and flavors, giving Marunouchi Honey its unique variety.

Marunouchi Honey is supervised by the nonprofit Ginza Mitsubachi Project. This pioneer of urban beekeeping in Tokyo was launched in 2006 by volunteers working in the Ginza district, and its rooftop activities have spread to Marunouchi and Otemachi as well.

Atsuo Tanaka, 67, who works at the nonprofit, said, “The living power of honeybees is strong, and they play a role in connecting the local environment.”

To celebrate its 10th year, the Marunouchi Honey Project has launched a new initiative.

Last year, DNA analysis of pollen in the honey revealed detailed information about the nectar sources for each season, such as cherry blossoms in April and clover in July.

The data will be used to help preserve the area’s environment, for example, by reflecting the nectar source flowers in seasonal plantings.

Hirotaka Matsui, an employee of Mitsubishi Estate Co., who is a project member, said, “We would like to link this project to the preservation of biodiversity in central Tokyo.”

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