A pair of Yubari premium-grade melons, a famous delicacy from the central Hokkaido city of Yubari in Japan was sold for 1 million yen ($12452) in the first auction of this year’s harvest season. The Yubari melon is a cantaloupe cultivar farmed in greenhouses in Yūbari, Hokkaidō, a small town close to Sapporo in Japan. The 4-kilogram pair of Yubari premium-grade melons was bought by Toko Farm, a fruit and vegetable wholesaler based in Higashikawa, Hokkaido. Toko Farm is planning to serve the delicious fruit to customers in restaurants in Tokyo and Hokkaido’s Asahikawa for free.
A total of 110 melons, harvested on May 16, were auctioned off in an event that took place at the Central Wholesale Market in Sapporo’s Chuo Ward the following day. The highest ever price paid for the orange-fleshed delicacy was 2.5 million yen $31,130), recorded in 2008.

