A pair of melons from the Japanese city of Yubari — better known lately for going bankrupt than for its farm produce — fetched a record 2 million yen at the season’s first auction on Tuesday.

Department store Marui Imai Inc. in the city of Sapporo on Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido snapped up the melons, beating out other bidders and besting the previous record price of 800,000 yen set last year, an official of local farm co-op JA Yubari said.

“This year is the 135th anniversary of the founding of our department store, so that is one reason” why the store paid so much, said Marui Imai spokeswoman Shizuka Sumii.

“Yubari melons are a popular gift at ‘chugen’ (the summer gift season) and we sell a lot,” she said, adding that less extravagant Yubari melons could be bought for around 5,000 yen.

By Sun Tzu on 15-05-2007