The season's first pair of Japan's luxurious Yubari melons were sold yesterday at ¥800,000 (US$7,258), the highest bidding price ever, at a Sapporo auction in the northern island of Hokkaido.
The revered orange-fleshed Yubari melons, similar in size to a cantaloupe, were sold to Shikisya Co, an online produce seller in Hokkaido.
Last year, the premier melons were sold for ¥600,000 a pair to Ogasawara Shoten, a souvenir shop in Chitose.
After being on a shrine-like display, were later auctioned online for ¥120,000 a piece, according to Naohiro Kawahara, the seller of the melons.
An average 1.3kg Yubari melon, renowned for their high quality and sweet taste, normally sells for ¥2,000 to ¥8,000.
"For us, it is one of the festive celebrations to mark the first shipment of Yubari melons," Hisashi Kurosawa of National Federation of Agricultural Co-operative Associations at Yubari City said yesterday.
A hybrid created in 1960, seedlings of the Yubari King are planted under vinyl greenhouses in February and 105 days later the first melons are carefully handpicked. The harvest continues until August.
Only 154 of about 230 farmers in the former coal-mine town of Yubari have the right to plant the melon seeds.
"The farmers face heavy hardships in growing these melons," Kurosawa said. "But Yubari melons are our proud product as a sign of the summer approaching."
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from