Original founder was Thomas Tomonobu Kamiya. Family came from Gushikawa City. Current owners are Kenneth Kamiya and Michael Kamiya (father and son). The Kamiya family has been growing papayas for over 50 years. You can find Kamiya Papayas at Times Supermarkets, Tamashiro Market, and Marukin Market.

From their website:

"The original “Kamiya Papaya” was a selection of the “Line 77″ introduced by Dr. Henry Nakasone, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at the University of Hawaii in the early 1960’s. The “Line 77″ was a large round fruit with thick flesh and averaging over three pounds each, some as high as four pounds. It was also known for being a low bearing tree. Although it had excellent eating qualities the drawbacks were for that time was its size and deep star seed cavity which made it somewhat difficult to clean out the seeds. Faced with these drawbacks we began to select seeds for smaller and somewhat elongated fruit, and after many fields of trials we finally achieved a selection that bred true in subsequent plantings.

Following this selection and in the process of marketing this fruit through Times Super Markets demand for this fruit became so great that it required a brand name and hence this selection became known as the “Kamiya Papaya”.

Over the many years of producing and marketing this papaya we are proud to say that we continue to serve many loyal and devoted customers who demand only the best. We hear it over and over direct from customers that, “once I eat your papaya I cannot eat any other”.

The Kamiya papaya is a medium sized fruit with orange flesh, thin rind, mild, but delicate aroma, smooth texture, and high sugar content.