YOKOHAMA -- It may be a bit hard to believe that in this day and age you can get free farmland in Yokohama.

But many local residents get just that as they grow a variety of vegetables in compact farms within a vast plot of land marked by sporadic signs bearing the words, "U.S. Naval Property."

Naval Support Facility Kamiseya, a 242-hectare expanse that during the Cold War served as one of the U.S. Navy's most important communications facilities, stretches over Yokohama's Seya and Asahi wards.

Although some buildings and housing complexes still remain in a limited fenced-in area, most of the U.S. property comprises farms and fields where civilians are virtually free to take walks, play with dogs and fly model planes -- and grow vegetables.

A man in his 60s growing Chinese cabbage, broccoli and several other vegetables on a 50-sq.-meter plot said he has been working the land there for about five years.

"I don't sell these vegetables, but I don't have to shop at the supermarket," the man said, requesting anonymity.

He said he used to come here daily with his dog. "One day I was told (by another amateur farmer),'Why not farm?' So I started," he said.

About 45 percent of this former Imperial Japanese Navy facility is owned by the central government, about 45 percent is privately owned property leased to the government, and the rest belongs to Yokohama. The central government provides the entire package to the U.S. government under the bilateral Status of Forces Agreement.

The roughly 230 private landowners -- who are free to use their property for farming -- received in 2000 a total of 365 million yen in rent from the central government.

Meanwhile, even in the government-owned areas, citizens are tacitly allowed to fence in plots for gardening.

According to a spokesman for the U.S. Navy, which is responsible for the facility's management, it is aware of the amateur farmers but does not officially approve the activity.

Officials at the Defense Facilities Administration Agency, which is in charge of the acquisition of U.S. military facilities in Japan, said they are also aware that such people are tilling the land, but that they do not know who they are.

One such "farmer" said the field he tills was covered with illegally dumped trash, including old furniture. "The land has been kept clean thanks to us," he said.

In September 2000, a Japanese man was caught dumping 650 kg of trash at the facility and said he did not know it was U.S. military property, local police said.

Even while authorities beefed up security at other U.S. bases across the nation after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the farmers and gardeners at Kamiseya were allowed to work, although they said they were told to leave their vehicles outside the facility for the first two weeks following the attacks.

Since 1951, when the U.S. requisitioned it after the outbreak of the Korean War, the Kamiseya facility is believed to have been mainly used by the U.S. to intercept Soviet communications. A vast field was left vacant around the numerous antennas at the site so that even weak radio communications could be received.

During the early 1990s, however, the antennas were gradually removed and most units at Kamiseya were dismantled or moved to other naval bases, according to military experts. The name of the facility was changed in 1995 from the Naval Radio Receiving Facility, while Washington that same year agreed to lift regulations on construction and power consumption imposed on 945 hectares around the base.

It is rumored that the U.S. Navy plans to relocate the remaining functions to Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, within a year. The navy neither denies nor confirms this, simply saying, "In the event any significant changes to the use of facilities in Japan are contemplated, the government of Japan will be notified immediately."

Given the idleness of most of the facility, some have argued that the central government should demand its return, at least the portion outside the fenced area. SOFA stipulates: "The facilities and areas used by the United States armed forces shall be returned to Japan whenever they are no longer needed for the purposes of this agreement, and the United States agrees to keep the needs for facilities and areas under continual observation with a view toward such a return."

One landowner filed a suit against the central and U.S. governments with the Yokohama District Court in March 1998, demanding the land be evacuated. In a rare move, the court last year conducted an inspection of several parts of the facility and acknowledged that they are in a condition of "temporary disuse."

"It is clear to everyone that the U.S. has to return the facility," said Hiroshi Takahashi, a lawyer for the plaintiff.

Some other U.S. military facilities in Kanagawa Prefecture are also believed to be idle, but the government has similarly shown reluctance in demanding their return.

"I don't think the U.S. will say it no longer uses these facilities," said one DFAA official. "The U.S. will try to keep holding them because their return will be a strong trump card in future negotiations with Japan."

In fact, in late 1999, then Defense Agency chief Tsutomu Kawara admitted during a news conference that the U.S. asked Japan to construct housing complexes for service members and their families at Kamiseya as a condition for returning most of the facility, although he said such an offer was made only during unofficial, working-level talks.

DFAA officials said they believe the U.S. still hopes to make the deal, given the reported shortage of on-base housing for U.S. Navy personnel in recent years.

Opposition lawmakers have often criticized the government's inaction on the issue, and the Yokohama Municipal Government and the Kanagawa Prefectural Government have publicly demanded the facilities' return.

"We continue to call on the central government to seriously work on the U.S. government to reorganize and reduce U.S. bases in the prefecture," Yutaro Yamamoto, director of the prefectural government's U.S. Military Facilities Relations Division, said.

In reality, however, the majority of local residents -- as well as the local governments -- do not seem particularly enthusiastic about the return of the Kamiseya facility.

A retired man strolling in the facility on a recent weekday said he doesn't really care about the issue. "I guess such a large area remains free from development thanks to the U.S. military keeping the facility," he said.