Kagawa Prefecture

Square Watermelon Exposed ★ ONLY in JAPAN #55 四角いスイカ

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• published: 11 Aug 2016
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Zentsuji in Kagawa Prefecture is the home to Japan's SQUARE WATERMELONS and I travel to Shikoku Island to the very spot where they've been producing them for decades. In this Man vs. Nature battle, mankind seems to have won -- but at the expensive costs to produce square watermelons, a luxury fruit, does anyone actually want one? Before going, I had many questions: Why do Japanese Square Watermelons exist? How are the grown? Do you eat them? What do they taste like? How much do they cost? I asked the son of the man who started it all, Yamashita-san. He took over for his father and continues his legacy of growing the perfect square watermelon. The story: About 45 years ago in Japan, ice cream and beverages started to compete with watermelons in the summer, and Zentsuji's Yamashita-san, who didn't want to give up making watermelons, decided to make the square watermelon to compete with those new favorites. Unfortunately, the costs were too high so they changed strategy to make them for display purposes. Stores would gladly pay more for it while customers did not want to pay more to eat them. Over the years, his son took over and he stuck with it – and now the SQUARE WATERMELON of ZENTSUJI is world famous! I'll take you to the farm where you'll see the metal and glass box they're grown in. The we go to the cooperative warehouse where local farmers process the watermelons for distribution around Japan and the rest of the world. Facts about the Square Watermelon: * They're only grown in Zentsuji where they are both trademarked and patented. * Zentsuji produces about 200 annually. * They cost between 10,000 and 20,000 yen in Tokyo but depending on the market forces, prices can rise to as high as 90,000 yen for one! * How big are they? They're 18 x 18cm so they can fit on the shelf if a refrigerator. * The harvest starts at the end of June and lasts to the middle of July. How to get to Zentsuji: There are a few daily flights to Takamatsu from Narita (Tokyo) with JETSTAR Airlines. From Takamatsu Airport, take a bus to the JR Train Station then a local train to Zentsuji / 30 minutes. Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/KfyUNGiaWW92 Music Credits: Habanera by Bizet Frozen Star by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100356 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ ♩♫ Happy and Inspirational Music ♪♬ - Bedtime Stories (Copyright and Royalty Free) by Ross Bugden https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVHVFwwuOa0 Special thank you to Mr. Hoshi from the Zentsuji Tourism Office! http://www.zentsuji.com/english/ and Mr. Yamashita and his wife & JA Kagawa NOTE: This video is under the normal YouTube License (it's not creative commons) and permission is required for use of this video. Follow John on Instagram during his location shoots around Japan: https://www.instagram.com/onlyinjapantv/ This show has been created and produced by John Daub ジョン・ドーブ. He's been living and working in Japan for over 18 years and regularly reports on TV for Japan's International Channel.