Square Roots Japan to Create a 'Garden of Life' in Space

Our company supports April Dream, which aims to make April 1st a day for announcing dreams. This press release is the dream of "Square Roots Japan."

Astronauts reportedly say:

"When you look at Earth from space, it makes you want to cry."

A shining blue planet. Its surface covered with green and water. The presence of life.

Perhaps when humans see green, they remember something. That they are living beings. That they are part of a larger flow of life. That they are not alone.

That's why we want to create a "Garden of Life" in space.

Eating and living are slightly different.

Food is indispensable for humans to live long in space. The urban vertical farming technology developed by Square Roots Japan—the technology to grow crops in a closed space without soil or sunlight—is essentially aligned with the questions faced by space agriculture.

I believe this is why innovation from New York and Japanese agricultural philosophy met. To free agriculture from the constraints of the natural environment. To grow under elevated railways. To grow in deserts. And to be grown in space.

But what we want to deliver is not just calories.

No matter how excellent a mission, it won't last long if humans cannot remain human. In the extreme environment of space, people confront loneliness, harbor nostalgia for Earth, and continue to question the meaning of life.

At that time, whether there is greenery by their side matters.

We believe it is a matter of the spirit.

We want to create a bonsai garden in the "Garden of Life."

In Japan, there is a culture called bonsai. It encapsulates a mountain landscape within a small pot. A pine tree hundreds of years old still quietly lives in a vessel small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.

Those who water bonsai confront something that will live longer than themselves. Even after they die, someone else will water this tree. That chain continues for hundreds of years.

Imagine for a moment.

There is a bonsai garden in the "Garden of Life" in space. That pine tree, which left Earth in 2026, will be watered by someone's descendant in 2100, and in 2200, when humanity has migrated to Mars, it will still be quietly extending its branches.

A bonsai garden that grows while being passed down for hundreds of years in space.

We believe this is not just a plant. It is proof that humanity has connected life in space, a promise of life across generations.

We also want to create a flower garden in the "Garden of Life."

Some might ask if flowers are necessary in space.

We believe they are necessary.

Flowers begin to scatter the moment they bloom. Isn't it the sensibility to appreciate their transience that has made humans human? In the infinite time and space of the universe, gazing at a flower that blooms only today is, we believe, an act of confirming that humans are "here and now."

Just as there is a single flower in a Japanese tea room. There can be a flower garden in a space habitat.

Agriculture is not just for harvesting. Sowing seeds, watering them, waiting for them to sprout. We believe that this very act continues to give humans a reason to live.

Time spent confronting life supports humanity.

Let me tell you about our dream roadmap.

First, we will turn Japanese cities into farms. Under elevated railways, in corners of buildings, next to stations. We will create places overflowing with food and greenery in familiar landscapes.

Next, we will turn the dry lands of the world into farms. We want to deliver Japanese agricultural technology and aesthetics to regions where food security is most unstable. Challenges in places where conventional agriculture is not feasible, such as the Middle East, have already begun.

And then, we will create a "Garden of Life" in space. Growing tomatoes, harvesting microgreens, blooming flower gardens, and watering bonsai gardens.

Having cultivated life in every "place where conventional agriculture is not feasible" on Earth, our final stage is space.

We believe this dream can only be seen in Japan.

A country that treats food as culture. A country that cherishes the seasons. A country where bonsai, ikebana, and tea ceremony coexist. A country that has woven the beauty of life into daily life.

When that aesthetic meets cutting-edge cultivation technology, space agriculture transcends a mere "food supply system."

It will become a cultural infrastructure for humans to live authentically in space.

We believe so.

On April 1st, we are not lying.

Someday, a "Garden of Life" will spread by a window in space.

Someone will sit there, gazing at Earth, quietly watering plants.

Beside them, flowers will bloom, bonsai will extend their branches, and greenery will breathe.

Peace will dwell in that person's heart.

That is the future Square Roots Japan wants to deliver.

A revolution from a single seed, cultivating the future.

About Square Roots Japan Inc.

An agritech company engaged in the development and operation of urban vertical farms. Under a technical partnership with New York-based Square Roots Inc., it develops high-precision cultivation technology in closed environments. Based in Tokyo, it is accelerating the deployment of agricultural technology to regions with severe food challenges worldwide. Beyond food production, it defines "agriculture for confronting life," such as cut flowers and bonsai, as its next frontier, aiming to create a "Garden of Life" in space. Its vision is "A revolution from a single seed, cultivating the future."