Japanese watermelons are no longer round!

Watermelons in interesting shapes all started with a cubic watermelon that a farmer in the Kagawa prefecture grew about 20 years ago. Originally, this was created on the idea that a watermelon in the shape of a cube would fit more readily in a compact refrigerator.

Students of the Atsumi Agricultural High School invented and cultivated cubic melons called “Kaku-Melo” as Kaku means “angle” in Japanese.

”It just started from an idea of high school students, but then it got bigger and bigger. The students were granted a cultivation patent, and its name, Kaku-Melo, is now an officially registered trademark. This was done with the cooperation of a local agricultural cooperative, a polytechnic high school, and an industrial high school. You can see Kaku-Melo at shops in the beginning of July.”

The JR Chiba Midori Asahi cucumber departmental meeting produces the “Heart stick” and the “Star Festival stick.