Japanese melons sell for $27,000+ at annual fruit auction

SAPPORO, JAPAN — A pair of melons sold in Japan for a record three million yen in the first fruit auction of the year.

That's approximately 27-thousand-200 dollars for just two melons!

Yubari melons are grown in northern Japan and considered a luxury fruit.  Yubari melons often sell for more than $100 each in Tokyo's department stores.

A supermarket from western Japan won this year's auction.

The melons are a cantaloupe hybrid. Each year, the first auction of the extravagant fruit is the focus of national attention.  The first batch of fruit is considered good luck in Japan, which accounts for the extremely high prices.

The supermarket will display the melons in store and later auction them again online.

Last year, the priciest pair of melons only fetched about 14-thousand dollars.

Cox Media Group