Article: Of melons and economic change: Japan. (melon industry and other economic plans in Hokkaido, Japan)

IT IS hard to decide whether Yubari's visionaries are heroic or mad. This town in Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island, grew up around its coal mines. From the 1960s, however, Yubari's coal was priced out of its markets by cheaper imports. The local people were told they had to find another way to earn their livelihood: they chose, of all things, melons. Their story shows how ill-prepared parts of Japan are for the shocks in store for them.

In winter Yubari's soil freezes hard. The town is closer to Siberia than to its customers in Tokyo. Despite such adversity, and with the help of some clever species-crossing, Yubari's melon farmers have grown famous. Tokyoites ...

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