Osaka: ‘Gutsy’ Watermelon Offspring Packs a Sweet Punch; Botanical Garden Visitors Savor Fruit at Tasting Event

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:36 JST, September 29, 2024

OSAKA — Visitors to a botanical garden in Osaka savored the taste of the offspring of the “gutsy” watermelon, whose vitality turned it into a hot topic of conversation.

In October last year, a wild watermelon was found growing on a median strip of Midosuji avenue, which runs through the center of Osaka. It was dubbed the “gutsy” watermelon because of its resilience.

The Sakuya Konohana Kan, Osaka municipal botanical garden, cultivated seeds from the watermelon. In late June, the botanical garden planted eight seedlings grown from the seeds, growing 16 watermelons.

The first generation was about 10 centimeters in diameter, while the second grew to about 30 centimeters, with a higher sugar content. On Sept. 7, a tasting event for the second-generation watermelons was held at the botanical garden, with the unexpectedly sweeter flavor astonishing visitors.

The garden served bite-sized pieces of the second-generation gutsy watermelons to about 200 visitors. It proved so popular that a long line formed, and visitors smiled as they tasted them.

“I think I already have a lot of guts, but I feel like I’ll have even more now,” said a 14-year-old junior high school girl who sampled the fruit.