Pair of Yubari Melons Fetch 3.5 M. Yen in Japan's Hokkaido

Sapporo, May 25 (Jiji Press)--A pair of Yubari premium melons sold for 3.5 million yen in the first auction of this season in Sapporo, Hokkaido, northern Japan, Thursday, the second-highest price on record after 5 million yen in 2019.

They were among 262 Yubari melons put up for the auction at the Sapporo Central Wholesale Market, an event that heralds the arrival of summer in Hokkaido.

Hokuyupack Co., a Yubari melon packing company in the Hokkaido city of Yubari that acquired the pair, plans to serve the melons to 200 local people for free next month.

"As the COVID-19 pandemic was over, I want people to come to Yubari and eat tasty melons," Hokuyupack President Kiyomichi Noda said with a smile.

Farmers began to harvest Yubari melons Wednesday. The Yubari agricultural cooperative aims to ship 3,258 tons of Yubari melons this season and earn some 1.9 billion yen in sales.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]