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.