In Tokyo, green space is scarce. Photo by Yuki Yaginuma.

Over at PingMag, a website that bills itself as “an online design magazine based in Tokyo,” you can find some really neat photos and videos about what Tokyo’s residents are doing to make the dull and drab cityscape a little more green. Some of the things range from the obvious – “guerilla planting” or, if you’re a little less radical, moving potted plants onto the sidewalk – to the bizarre – playing recordings of bird’s chirping in the subway (there’s a funny video of this). There’s also the tacky – building concrete trees and plastic plants.

What’s clear from all this is that Tokyo’s residents are desperate for nature, in whatever manufactured form it can come in.

Thanks to Joe Foti for this one!