Hokkaido melons fetch about 25 thousand dollars at season's 1st auctions

YEREVAN, May 23, ARMENPRESS.A pair of melons produced in the northern city of Yubari, Hokkaido, fetched a winning bid price of 24.6 thousand dollars in the year's first auction at a Sapporo wholesale market, informs “Armenpress” in reference to the country’s mass media.

The price was 900,000 yen higher than the successful bid in last year's first auction at Sapporo Central Wholesale Market and equaled the record set in 2008.

"I hope melons will prompt people to take an interest in the products of Hokkaido," said Kenichiro Namerikawa, president of a Sapporo-based company which bought the melons.

Melons are considered prestigious gifts in Japan, says Interfax.