Every child knows that watermelons are round. But the Japanese had a different idea: Find out here how it came about and why.
They are the perfect refreshment on hot summer days: juicy-sweet watermelons. In Japan, watermelons began to be grown outside of their usually round shape about 40 years ago. But why?
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Japan is a country with enormous metropolitan areas. The capital Tokyo and its suburbs are even the largest metropolitan area in the world with an incredible 37 million inhabitants! It is probably obvious that the space for living space is extremely limited. And in the kitchen, too, ordinary appliances such as the refrigerator have to be much smaller than would be the case in normal households. And this is where the square melon comes into play: the usually round melons take up a lot of space in the small Japanese refrigerator. The square shape is more practical. And so the idea of the melon, which is no longer round but square, came about. The square model has also proven to be much easier to transport and ship the fruit. Storage efficiency aside, you're probably still wondering how on earth are the melons suddenly getting square?
A house made of glass
The trick behind the special shape lies in a glass case in which the individual melons grow. When the fruit is still small, it is placed in a perfectly square glass box and over time the melon grows into and eventually fills the shape. The fruit is harvested before it is fully ripe. Therefore, square melons are not really to be emphasized in terms of taste. The motto here is more geometric perfection before taste experience. In theory, you can square your melons (if you own any) by letting them grow in a glass cube. We haven't tried it yet though.
Fruit Madness in Japan
The Japanese are known for their crazy fruit breeds,show extreme perfection. In terms of price, many of the most expensive fruits in the world can also be found in Japan. The square melon also plays in the league of high-priced fruits. The more perfect the melon, the higher the price, which can run into the hundreds of euros. Meanwhile, some Japanese melon growers seem to have succeeded in growing heart- and pyramid-shaped melons as well. We can't say what comes next, but we keep our eyes on the Far East.
You can find a variety of other unusual and exotic fruits in this article.