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Intra-plate Cenozoic volcanism in Kita-Matsuura, northwestern Kyushu, Japan, shows systematic spatio-temporal changes in geochemistry that can be explained by partial melting followed by melt segregation in a region of upwelling mantle. We have examined the thermal and melting history of the upwelling mantle by quantitatively estimating melt water contents and melting conditions. The water content of a spectrum of primary melts is estimated to range from 0·5 to 1·5 wt % based on a combination of a plagioclase-liquid and olivine-saturated liquid geohygrometers and MELTS calculations. The estimated melt segregation temperature ranges from 1330 to 1500°C, at pressures from 1·7 to 2·8 GPa under hydrous conditions. Melting temperature and pressure decreased with time, whereas the water content of the primary melts increased. Corresponding temporal decreases in high field strength element (HFSE) abundances and HFSE/large ion lithophile element (LILE) ratios require progressive melt extraction and aggregation from a melting mantle with a continuous and gradually increasing input of H2O-rich fluid or melt into the melting system. The estimated isotope composition of influxed fluid lies on a mixing line between the sediment and altered oceanic crust of the Philippine Sea Plate, with strong affinity to the sediment composition. Based on the temporal variation of the magmas and the melting model, we propose small-scale upwelling (c. 70 km in diameter) of a dry mantle peridotite that interacts progressively with the overlying wet mantle wedge. The wet mantle wedge was previously hydrated by fluids from sediments from the subducted Philippine Sea Plate, whereas the deep and dry mantle could have been derived from the mantle beneath the subducted Pacific Plate through a slab window. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]