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I've been wondering about watermelon in Japan for weeks. Today I took the day to learn a little more. When did it arrive? What did Japanese people think of it? Thread! https://twitter.com/ukiyoeota/status/1295717435434303491
Watermelons traveled from Africa through the Middle East throughout Eurasia to Japan. From the 14th c. a Kanshi poetry anthology Kūgeshū:
西瓜今見生東海、剖破猶含玉露濃
I see the watermelons growing in the Tōkai,
If we split one open, the juice will be just like dew on a jewel
西瓜今見生東海、剖破猶含玉露濃
I see the watermelons growing in the Tōkai,
If we split one open, the juice will be just like dew on a jewel
A 1696 agriculture encyclopedia (農業全書) tells us that "There are many kinds of watermelon. It's also called Jyagatara. The flesh is red and the flavor superb." "Jyagatara" also referred to Jakarta. Maybe a new variety came to Japan from Indonesia or the Dutch during this time.
The Illustrated Famous Places of Settsu (摂津名所図会, 1702), tells us that watermelon had been a famous product of Tsu no Kuni for a long time, called Narao Watermelons (鳴尾西瓜). Watermelons evolved into a cash crop with regional branding.
There are many Japanese images of watermelon, particularly from the 19th c. Here's two my man, Utagawa Kuniyoshi (mid 1840s) featuring women holding a slices of watermelon. (名所揃い、五行之内 西瓜の水性)
Watermelon is not a really nutrient dense crop. It's a luxury crop. When I see these watermelon pictures, I think how extraordinary it was to have a sizable watermelon market. Watermelon for sale 1830s (東都歳事記)
It was obviously a valued summer crop. We can see a portrayal of a watermelon field in Shimōsa here--but that guy is throwing the melon awfully high in the air. (大日本物産図会) Risky move!
Watermelon are all over the place, in a blink and miss it sort of way. Understandably, they appear in summer prints, seasonal festivals like Tanabata and Ogon. Can you spot the watermelon in this famous Utagawa Hiroshige print? (名所江戸百景 市中繁栄七夕祭, 1857)
Kuniyoshi shows children putting together a Tanabata display. (1840, MFA, 子供遊五節供 七月) Once again, there's a watermelon. Next time you look at a 19th c. summer print, see if you can spot the suika. Clearly a summer symbol in the mid 19th c.
Do you think that boy is measuring the big watermelon? It sure looks like it! Waseda has a gorgeous edition of this Toyohara Kunichika print. (源氏五節句之内七月七夕祭 文庫30 B0236)
https://www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kotenseki/html/bunko30/bunko30_b0236/index.html
https://www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kotenseki/html/bunko30/bunko30_b0236/index.html
I have nothing to say about these Katsushika Hokusai pictures. I just think they're beautiful. (西瓜図 , 西瓜と包丁 1830s)
Finally, my favorite watermelon image. Utagawa Hiroshige, Bon no odori. Obon dancing on a fan. Not sure if anyone in the image is sober, but they certainly look like they're having a good time.
Nothing like a popular post to make me wish for an edit button. Please ignore the typos and see the comments and retweets for more details.
