Tokyo, May 24, 2021: In what may be the unlikeliest pointer of a post-pandemic recovery, a couple of premium Japanese melons have sold for $24,800 at closeout, more than 22 times more than last year’s pandemic hit price.
The 2.7 million yen price tag at the season’s first auction for the famed Yubari melons is still a snip compared to records for the prized produce. “The current year’s recovery in cost can be viewed as buyers hoping to encourage people by placing in higher offers,” a wholesale market official told press.
The successful bidder was a local manufacturer of baby food, whose president told local public telecaster NHK that he trusted the purchase would spread optimism. He said despite there being a lot of negative news, he hoped this would be a reason for people to smile. Seasonal fruit offerings in Japan regularly pull in massive sums from purchasers looking for free popularity and prestige.
In 2019, a couple of Yubari melons went for a record 5,000,000 yen however the value plunged to only 120,000 yen a year ago, with producers blaming the pandemic for discouraging rich bidders anxious to outshine one another. The melons come from Hokkaido, the country’s northernmost main island and a famous traveler destination.
The region is presently under a virus induced state of emergency alongside nine others including the capital Tokyo.
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