Most of the melons in Aomori Prefecture are cultivated in rain tunnels, and it seems that they are cultivated in a well-balanced manner by combining white-skinned varieties and yellow-skinned varieties, centering on net-based melons. The shipment volume is ranked high in the whole country, and the peak shipment is in August. “Takami Melon”, the main variety in the prefecture, is characterized by its green and thick flesh, slightly hard flesh and long shelf life, and an extremely high sugar content of around 16 degrees.
Rosa rugosa: A seal of Her Majesty the Empress Masako-sama, it is also the original species of the Hybrid Rugosa family. It is famous as a deciduous shrub with a height of 0.5 to 1 m that often grows on the coast. The stem is well-branched, and the branches are densely populated with thick flat spines and fine needle-like spines. The leaves are odd pinnate compound leaves with a length of 5 to 13 cm that alternate, and it seems that there are 7 to 9 leaflets. The leaflets are oval with a length of 1.5-4.5 cm and a width of 1-2.5 cm, and the surface is dented and wrinkled along the veins and glossy. White vellus hair seems to grow densely on the underside of the leaf and the axis of the leaf. There are serrations on the edges of the leaves. Fuchsia inflorescences are attached to the tips of the branches, and 1 to 3 purple-red five-petaled flowers with a diameter of 6 to 9 cm are attached. The peduncle is 1 to 3 cm long and thick, with thorns. The flowers have a strong fragrance and are pleasant. The fruits are oblate with a diameter of 2 to 2.5 cm and ripen orange to red.
Kiss Me melon (open field) was born in 1995 as a new type of net melon that takes advantage of the noble scent of Earl’s melon and the rich sweetness of open field net melon. The pericarp is grayish white with a beautiful net (the mesh on the surface of the melon) and swelling. The flesh is thick, pale yellowish green, and has a stable sweetness with a sugar content of 15 to 16 degrees, and the taste is mild, close to that of Earl’s. It is an Earl’s blue meat melon, and it is also characterized by being more affordable than Earl’s melon.