Suika wari, (watermelon crushing), is a national favourite seasonal game in summer. Suika means watermelon and Wari means splitting.
There even exists the Japan Suika-Wari Association (JSWA), and they state official rules for Suika-wari!
First, blind yourself with a towel or some sort of blindfold, hold the stick, rotate at least 3 times by using your stick as a pivot, then try to approach the watermelon placed about 5 m away by relying on your friends advice, and smash the watermelon! Easy
Suika-wari is often played at a beach, but is also often played at schools as part of a summer holiday send off.
Suika Wari on the beach or at a picnic
It is a good fun to watch the blindfolded person ‘blindly’ look for the watermelon and of course the best part of this game is to share the watermelon afterwards!
Official rules of Suika Wari
The Japan Suika-Wari Association (JSWA), established by the Japan Agricultural Cooperative (JA), established a set of rules in 1991 governing the game. The JSWA was created by the JA to increase consumption of watermelon. The rules established were as follows:
- Distance between player and watermelon: over 5m, and within 7m
- Stick: Circumference of 5cm; length equal to or less than 1m, 20cm.
- Material to use for blindfold: JSWA-recognized blindfolds. To verify that the player was truly blinded, observers were encouraged to drop a 10,000-yen note in front of her.
- Watermelon: a well-ripened domestic melon.
- Time limit: 3 minutes.
- Judging: Judges should rate the player on how pretty a break between halves she managed to make. Players who cleaved the watermelon in equal halves could come close to a perfect score, while players who broke them into unequal parts would receive lower marks.
- Other details: Judges should have eaten at least 10 watermelons in the current year.
