We've heard of square watermelons from Japan, but you've probably never heard of pentagon-shaped citrus fruits.
These citrus fruits, which are like a cross between a mandarin and an orange, were created to say, "Good luck on your school exams." You're probably wondering how that makes any sense. It's actually quite clever.
(image via Kotaku)
According to Kotaku, the fruit is called "iyokan," which means a "Japanese Summer Orange." In Japanese, "gokakukei" means "pentagon." If you're familiar with the Japanese language, the pentagon citrus fruits are actually a pun!
The word "Goukaku" means "successfully passing an exam" and "ii yokan" means a "good premonition." So if it is written out like "goukaku ii yokan," the meaning is "to have a good premonition of exam success." Clever!
Since Japan is entering a big exam period for high school students, farmers are offering encouragement by handing out these cleverly shaped fruits. It's said that these oranges are a symbol of good luck, which will go a long way in a heavy exam season.
(image via foodbeast)
If you're still wondering how the pentagonal fruits were made, here's how: when the fruit is young, molds are placed around the growing fruit. As the fruit keeps growing, it will take the form of the pentagon. Very cool.
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