Yubari Melons Fetch Record 3.2 M. Yen in 1st Auction This Season

May 27, 2018

Sapporo- A pair of famous Yubari brand melons sold for an all-time high of 3.2 million yen in this season's first auction at the wholesale market in Sapporo, Hokkaido, on Saturday.

The previous record for a two-melon box was 3 million yen, marked in 2016.

At the Sapporo Central Wholesale Market, a total of 507 melons grown in the city of Yubari in the northernmost Japan prefecture were put up for auction.

"There are a lot of depressing topics in Yubari," said Shinya Noda, the 45-year-old winning bidder and head of a fruit and vegetable wholesale firm in the city.

Yubari, once a booming coal town in central Hokkaido, has been undergoing rehabilitation since its bankruptcy about 10 years ago.

"I wanted to bring bright news (to Yubari)," he said.

The most-expensive-ever melons will be served for the first 60 people free of charge at a restaurant run by the city's agricultural cooperative, according to Noda.

After watching the auction at the market, Yubari Mayor Naomichi Suzuki said, "The restaurant could be swamped by a crowd of people and cry for joy."

The cooperative said this year's melons grew smoothly despite unstable weather conditions and taste good. Jiji Press