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A pair of the Yubari melon, a premium orange-fleshed cantaloupe variety from Hokkaido, sold for 2.5 million yen in this harvest season's first auction held at the Sapporo City Central Wholesale Markets on Tuesday.

The price is a record high, surpassing the 2 million yen a pair fetched last year, according to Yubari's agricultural cooperative. The winning bidder of what was considered the best pair on Tuesday was a businessman dealing in seafood lunchboxes and souvenirs near the marketplace.