Giant watermelons are lined up at the watermelon growing contest in Okegawa, Saitama Prefecture, on Aug. 20. (Takuya Kawasaki)
OKEGAWA, Saitama Prefecture--If they awarded Olympic medals for watermelons, then Japan could quite possibly have won another gold.
A 66.3-kilogram monster took the title here Aug. 20 in the Okegawa jumbo watermelon contest.
The fun competition was sponsored by the Okegawa jumbo watermelon lovers group, made up of local farmers. It was held at “Benibana furusato kan,” a community facility in this city.
A whopping 30 king-size watermelons were entered in the contest, and the 66.3-kg behemoth grown by Masao Iwasaki, 75, cast a shadow on the rest of the fruit to be awarded the top prize of Governor's Award.
The event, in its 12th year, was held with the aim to draw attention to the local community.
The watermelons entered were of the American Carolina Cross variety, which are characterized by their massive fruit.
Iwasaki’s winning watermelon started growing June 8, two weeks earlier than usual.
“The longer it grew, the riper it became,” Iwasaki, a former Okegawa mayor and head of the group, said with a huge smile.
