SAPPORO - The season's first auction for Yubari melons, a signature specialty of Yubari in Hokkaido, was held at the Sapporo Central Wholesale Market on Friday morning, with a pair of the premium melons fetching a record 5.8 million yen.
Futami Seika, a fruit and vegetable wholesaler based in Kushiro, Hokkaido, placed the winning bid, surpassing the previous record of 5 million yen paid for two melons in 2019.
The melons will be displayed at a supermarket in Tokyo through May 24th before being served free of charge to customers on May 25th.
Yubari melons originated in the former coal-mining city of Yubari in Hokkaido, where farmers began searching for a high-value crop suited to the area's limited farmland and well-drained soil after the war. Melon cultivation had been attempted in the region before World War II, but it was revived in the 1950s as the city looked to develop distinctive agricultural products.
The breakthrough came after an agricultural extension officer took an interest in a locally grown red-fleshed melon known as Spicy Cantaloupe, which lacked sweetness but had a distinctive fragrance. Farmers crossed it with Earl's Favourite, a sweet green-fleshed melon, and in 1960 produced the hybrid variety now known as Yubari King, the melon sold under the Yubari Melon brand.
In the same year, 17 farmers established the Yubari Melon Association, introducing shared cultivation standards, shipping rules and quality-control methods that helped build the fruit's reputation. Unlike many other melon-producing regions, Yubari has continued to grow the same Yubari King variety for more than six decades, with seed stock strictly controlled and production permitted only within the city.
Initially sold mainly in Hokkaido, Yubari melons began gaining wider recognition in the 1970s as direct shipping expanded and former coal miners who had moved to other parts of Japan helped spread awareness of their hometown specialty. The melon's orange flesh, rich fragrance and soft, melting texture gradually turned it into one of Japan's best-known luxury gift fruits.
The brand later became a model of regional agricultural protection. Yubari Melon was registered under Japan's Geographical Indication protection system on December 22nd, 2015, among the first seven products protected under the scheme and the first from Hokkaido. The registration restricts use of the name to melons meeting defined production and quality standards in Yubari.
The first auction of the season, held each year at the Sapporo Central Wholesale Market, has become a symbolic event marking the arrival of early summer in Hokkaido, with winning bids often serving as promotional purchases rather than ordinary market prices. The latest record was set on May 22nd, 2026, when two Yubari melons sold for 5.8 million yen, surpassing the previous record of 5 million yen set in 2019.
