The first ones are ready for harvest 105 days after planting. They are planted in February, as soon as the snow is gone. The melons are grown in long, vinyl greenhouses. It lets growers there easily control the temperature of the soil, and the ash lets water quickly drain through, allowing for the top to remain dry, which promotes the size of the melons. It’s not what’s in the volcanic soil, but how the soil behaves. The soil the melons are grown in is volcanic ash. The Cooperative is vigilant for counterfeits. The Association says it is to protect quality. Now (as of 2005), there around 200 farmers in the cooperative.Īll growers must belong to the Yubari Agricultural Cooperative Association that controls supply and thus the price. A cooperative was started with 17 farmers in 1960. Growers in Yubari started creating the Yubari brand in the early 1950s. They crossbred their original melon with one from Europe, and got the one they grow today, called “Yubari King.”
After the war, Yubari farmers thought they might as well try other things such as asparagus and potatoes, but the results were never as good as they had had for melons. Production stopped altogether during the war. Yubari grew cantaloupes before the Second World War.
Yubari is a town of 14,000 people (as of 2005.) They are grown in Yubari, Hokkaido, 1 ½ hours from Sapporo. A portion of the trimmed stem is left on top for appearance.
They fetch prices of 10,000 to 15,000 yen (2005 prices, $82 to $125 US), with the absolute top ones costing 20,000 yen ($165 US.) To be in the top grade, a melon has to be perfectly round and have perfectly smooth skin. They are used for summer gift giving, and usually come in or with a wood box for gift packaging. Yubari are very expensive Japanese melons.
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