How much does a Yubari King melon cost?

At the season's first auction in Sapporo, a single ceremonial pair has sold for as much as 5 million yen (around 45,000 USD in 2019). That is the headline-grabbing record price. Outside the first-auction event, premium-grade Yubari King melons typically sell for 10,000 to 30,000 yen per fruit at department-store fruit counters during peak summer gift season. Lower grades from the same Yubari farms run cheaper, often 5,000 to 8,000 yen.

Why are Yubari King melons so expensive?

Three factors stack. First, the cultivar is grown only on registered farms inside Yubari City, Hokkaido — a small geographic area with strict quality controls. Second, melons are graded by netting pattern, sugar content (often 13 Brix or higher), shape symmetry, and stem condition; only the top tier carries the King label. Third, Japan has a deep gift-giving culture in which presenting a flawless luxury fruit to a client or in-law is a recognized social signal. The first auction of the season is a publicity event where wholesalers and department stores bid up the ceremonial price to extreme levels.

Where can I see or buy a Yubari King melon?

The cheapest place is Yubari City itself or the nearby Sapporo wholesale market in late June through August. Department-store basement food halls (depachika) at Mitsukoshi, Isetan, and Daimaru carry Yubari Kings during the season. Retail fruit specialists like Sembikiya in Tokyo's Nihombashi stock them year-round when supply allows. The first-of-season ceremonial auction happens in late May or early June at the Sapporo Central Wholesale Market and is open to the public to watch.

Today I Learned

Japan, apparently, sells pairs of melons for 30,000 dollars at the season's first auction in Hokkaido

Yubari King melons, grown in a single Hokkaido town, set auction records every June. A 2019 first-of-season pair hit 5 million yen (~45,000 USD). The price is not flavor; it is being first.

Published 2026-05-07 · 2 min read · By Daichi

◇ A pair of perfectly netted Yubari King melons resting on red velvet inside a wooden presentation box at a Sapporo fruit auction

A melon that costs more than a car

Late May or early June, every year, two melons go up on a wooden stand at the Sapporo Central Wholesale Market. They are perfectly round, the netting pattern looks almost printed on, and they are about to be auctioned. The opening bid is theater. By the time the gavel falls, the pair has sold for somewhere between 2 and 5 million yen.

That is 30,000 to 45,000 US dollars for two melons. The buyer eats them. Sometimes the buyer cuts them open in front of a TV crew.

The fact

Yubari King melons are a registered cantaloupe cultivar grown only in Yubari City, Hokkaido, on a small set of certified farms. The cultivar was developed in the 1960s by crossing two existing varieties to suit Hokkaido’s climate and Japan’s premium-fruit market.

Notable auction prices:

2019 — a pair sold for 5 million yen (around 45,000 USD), the modern record.
2018 — a pair fetched 3.2 million yen (~29,000 USD) at the season’s first auction.
2008 — a pair sold for 2.5 million yen, then headline news.
Typical retail — premium individual fruits run 10,000–30,000 yen at depachika counters during the season.

The first auction is a ceremonial event. Sapporo department stores and wholesalers bid against each other for the publicity of holding the season’s first pair. The price has very little to do with the marginal flavor improvement.

Why it works this way

A few cultural and agricultural forces stack:

Hatsumono (first-of-season). Japan has a long-standing reverence for the first harvest of any seasonal crop. Buying hatsumono is supposed to extend the buyer’s life by 75 days. This belief, plus media coverage, is exactly what powers the first-auction theater.
Tight geography. Yubari is a former coal-mining town with under 7,000 residents. Only farms inside the city limits can certify their melons as Yubari King. That shortage is structural.
Hand grading. Each melon is inspected by hand for netting density, shape symmetry, stem condition (T-shaped stem is required), and sugar content — typically 13 Brix or higher for top grade. Anything below grade is sold under a different name or as juice.
Gifting infrastructure. During ochugen (mid-summer gift season), a Yubari pair is the unambiguous “I respect you and I have money” signal in business and family settings.

Where to see it

Sapporo Central Wholesale Market (北海道札幌市中央卸売市場) — first auction late May or early June, open to public viewing.
Yubari City — the source. Local farm shops sell direct from late June.
Mitsukoshi Sapporo / Daimaru Sapporo depachika — premium grades on display through the season.
Sembikiya Nihombashi (Tokyo) — the historic luxury fruit specialist, established 1834. Yubari Kings sit in the season window every summer.

Closing

Most expensive food records involve some kind of trick — gold leaf, a fancy room, an overpriced restaurant. The Yubari King is just a melon. A good one, but still a melon. The price is paying for the calendar, not the fruit. Apparently, in Japan, the calendar is worth more.