I ran into trouble trying to quiz them on how many continents there are. I think they say 6 because Eurasia counts as 1.
Yeah, square watermelons here are just a novelty. Like green and purple ketchup was in the US. (Although my brother, suggestible as he is, was convinced that the green ketchup tasted better)
And, as I have already said in my post, bananas, melons, strawberries, etc are false fruits. Which means, botanically, they are still fruits, just abnormal ones. But if Japan wants to, from a horticultural perspective, classify them as vegetables, they are more than welcome to do so.
But I’ll still say it’s weird.
ETA: I suppose, from a horticultural perspective, it makes more sense to treat them as vegetables, because they are grown in fields rather than orchards, but, still, seriously?
Here’s a link to the cubical watermelons for those who haven’t seen them. They’re grown in glass jars, and apparently fit well in the small Japanese refrigerators.
I wonder if the students were confusing watermelon with winter melon which is more vegetable-like and used in a delicious soup. Bitter melon is pretty much considered a vegetable.
No. When I asked for clarification, we spoke in Japanese (I, too, suspected the student had misused the word [which would be odd, because the English word is in fairly common usage as a variant to the Japanese word]) and they definitely used the word for watermelon (suika), not winter melon (tougan).
And regular watermelons fit just fine into my small Japanese refrigerator. Although I usually chop it up almost immediately upon bringing it home for convenience.
The people who can afford to buy a square watermelon can afford a large refrigerator.
Antarctica? Oh, please. 
“What you think you thought you saw you did not see.” Agent J, MiB - Manhattan Bureau
I’d say you missed a great opportunity for a Gaijin Smash. “Watermelons are veggies? Fuck that; they are totally fruits!! Anyone who says otherwise gets a powerbomb because I’m bigger, stronger, and totally barbaric. Gaijin Smash!”
Hell, going by the figure in that link, the people who can afford to buy watermelons can afford a large refrigerator.
Relevant bit:
Each melon sells for 10,000 yen, equivalent to about $83. It is almost double, or even triple, that of a normal watermelon.
A normal watermelon costs $40?
Yeah, in Japan watermelons are prohibitively expensive as it is. A single watermelon which (incidentally) is much smaller than those commonly eaten in the US often costs about 20 dollars. They are not the cheap, everyday summer snack that they are in the US. When I have purchased watermelon or eaten them at friends’ houses, it has been a rare treat, usually served for some celebratory reason. I can barely afford the occasional round watermelon, let alone the cubic monstrosities.
Sometimes, they do. The thing about fruit* here is that the prices vary wildly, and people are ready to spend more for better-looking and tastier items. You can buy a melon for $200 or $10, and every price in between. You can buy a strawberry for $5. Yes, one, single, strawberry. You can also buy a regular pack for $2 if you buy them at the right place and in season. Watermelons come in different sizes, so it’s hard to give a bottom price. When I buy them directly from the growers, it costs me about $15 to $20 for a large one.
The really expensive fruits are almost exclusively bought as gifts. People give gifts much more often than in North America. This leads to two problems: what to give? and where do I put all this junk I received, in my tiny apartment? Expensive fruit is perfect because almost everyone likes fruit, and once eaten don’t take up much space.
*Despite pedantic definitions, watermelon are shelved with fruits at the market, are sold in fruit stores, and are referred to as fruit in daily conversation.
Yes, they are sold with fruit and in fruit stores. But asking several coworkers and students, I have reliably got the answer, "Watermelon is a vegetable, " often followed with “It is related to cucumbers and cucumbers are vegetables so watermelon is a vegetable.” Furthermore, when asked why they are sold with fruits I have either gotten, “I don’t know,” or, “Well, it’s a vegetable, but we eat it like a fruit, so it makes more sense to sell it with fruit.” Of course, my sample population for this inquiry has, thus far, been limited to people living in Niigata. Maybe other people in other areas refer to them differently. YMMV and all that. This evening I’ll call some friends in Saitama and Okayama and see how they answer.
(Of course, the very act of asking “Is it a fruit or a vegetable?” sets people up with an expectation, so they may be expecting pedantry and, therefore, respond with the pedantic answer. I should ask people, instead, how they refer to watermelons in everyday conversation)
Also, FWIW, one coworker considered watermelons, cucumbers, and gourds to be vegetables, but asserted that bananas and strawberries are fruits (in contrast to the pedantic ja.wikipedia definition).
Drowsy Chaperone reference?
I finally understand why Japanese fruit is so expensive, thanks to this thread and your post specifically. I felt weird back in the day* when I was still playing Harvest Moon and giving the girls I was trying to marry food that they could buy themselves, but I figured it was a Japanese thing. And it was!
*Two or three years ago
I think that’s what it is. “Watermelons are really vegetables” is the sort of trivia kids are exposed to in elementary school. Sort of like “peanuts aren’t nuts.” As a matter of fact, when I asked my wife, she answered: “the answer you’re looking for is vegetable, right?”
For what it’s worth, do a Google image search for: Fruit and vegetable in Japanese, and compare the results. I think that, better than anything else, should give an idea of common usage.
http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=en&q=果物&btnG=Search+Images
http://images.google.com/images?client=safari&rls=ja-jp&q=野菜&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi
I’m sorry, it looks like the URL don’t work, copy-paste these in your browser:
Fruit:
http://images.google.co.jp/images?gbv=2&um=1&hl=en&q=果物&btnG=Search+Images
Vegetables:
http://images.google.co.jp/images?gbv=2&um=1&hl=en&q=野菜&btnG=Search+Images
Duh! :smack: I can’t believe I forgot to use ol’ Google in that way.
A simple look shows that 果物 and 果実 both bring up tons of pictures of watermelons, bananas, strawberries and the like, while 野菜 gives the usual lineup of green leafy vegetables, squashes, peppers, cucumbers, etc.
The fact that, pedantically, they are argued to be vegetables is still interesting, though.
ETA: Don’t worry, I am fully capable of doing a Google image search by myself 
I was thinking about those who can’t type Japanese.
Web searches are an awesome tool when it comes to finding out actual linguistic usage.
Oh, duh, right.
Don’t worry, in my self-centered universe I am the only person who could possibly find that google search useful or interesting
Yay!
Um… yes… more evidence of my razor-sharp wit!
(I don’t know what you mean, honestly. I spoke completely in earnest - and I still don’t see it… 
)