Hello everyone~! This is Saori from Kawaii Republic!

Ahh, it’s summer! And when you think of summer, you think of watermelon! And when you think of watermelon, of course—

It’s suikawari (watermelon splitting)!!!

Do you all know about suikawari? It’s a popular summer activity in Japan where you smash a watermelon with a stick! But—here’s the catch! The person doing the smashing is blindfolded and uses hints from people around them like ‘Right! Left! Forward! Swing the stick now!’ to hit the watermelon. And it’s a rule to eat the watermelon afterward! It’s a type of game using watermelon, but it also feels like it was invented as a way to split a huge watermelon into smaller pieces!

Actually, around last August, a Chiikawa comic was posted showing them playing suikawari. This mascot series is based on that! Usagi is even holding a stick—wait, no—a whole log, clearly ready to smash that watermelon with full force......!

Chiikawa and Hachiware’s mascots come with watermelons, so be sure to enjoy some suikawari fun together with the Chiikawa gang!