27/08/2025
Recent Yahoo News about Pathola, or Ceylon Gourd, based on the project introduced by me when I was working at the Suzuka International University.
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Translation below
Because of its long, slender shape, the Ceylon gourd—also known as snake gourd—is bearing fruit in abundance in Mimasaka City, Okayama Prefecture. Masaki Kimura (64), a self-employed resident of Irida in the city, has been encouraging friends to cultivate it in hopes of making it a new local specialty, and it has even begun appearing in local shops.
The Ceylon gourd originates in India. (From Ananda Kumara: This statement is wrong: Ceylon Gourd is registered at the Japan Patent Office as a vegetable from Sri Lanka. But many people think that it is from India). Its pale green fruit can grow up to about two meters in length. With no bitterness and a mild flavor, it is well suited for stir-fries and pickling, and in Sri Lanka and India it is commonly used as an ingredient in curries.
Kimura joined the “Ceylon Gourd Project,” which started in Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, with the aim of promoting the gourd as a low-calorie food. He obtained seeds from a grower in Tsuyama City and began cultivating them last year, and this summer they bore fruit in his own fields and in those of his friends.
The harvested gourds have been sold at roadside stations and supermarkets in Mimasaka City, delivered to Indian restaurants, and even offered to Takaoka Shrine in Maniwa City’s Kaminakatsui district, where the sacred tree’s branch formation—said to resemble a snake—has become a topic of conversation.
Kimura expressed his enthusiasm, saying, “By sharing cooking methods and increasing the number of growers, I want to make the Sakushū region a production area for Ceylon gourd.”
作州地域の新たな特産？ にょろりと伸びるセイロンウリ、美作市内で栽培広がる（山陽新聞デジタル） - Yahoo!ニュース https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/3dc3d3750c4da9d187d0b2a04d33a86ad97cb0c7
備考
セイロン瓜はインド原産と書いてありますが、実は、この野菜は日本の特許庁でスリランカからの新野菜として登録されております。正確に言うと、登録名は クマーラセイロン瓜 です。しかし名前は長いので、一般的にセイロン瓜と呼んでいます。
#セイロン瓜 #セイロン瓜プレジェクト #アーナンダクマーラ
細長い形状からヘビウリとも呼ばれるセイロンウリが岡山県美作市内で多数実っている。同市入田の自営業木村正彰さん（64）が新たな特産にしようと、友人に栽培を勧めて広げ、地元の商店にも並ぶようになった。
