May 17, 2012
TOKYO (AFP) - A box set of two cantaloupe melons has been sold at auction in Japan for one million yen ($12,500), but in a possible sign of the financial times, went for less than half the all-time record.
An unknown buyer snapped up the Yubari melons on the first day of the buying season, splashing out the equivalent of a small car for the pair of orange-fleshed fruit.
In a country where a single apple can cost more than $5 and a presentation pack of 20 cherries sells for over $100, Japanese shoppers are used to paying high prices for their fruit.
But the eye-watering figures banded about at the Sapporo Central Wholesale Market in Hokkaido reflect the buyer's desire for prestige as well as a degree of sympathy for the town that produces them, which went bust in 2007.
Top notch Yubari melons are perfect spheres with a smooth, evenly patterned rind. A T-shaped stalk is left on the fruit, which is usually sold in an ornate box.
In 2008 a pair of Yubari melons sold for 2.5 million yen at auction.
