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Jun 13 2005 14 Comments

Marvellous melons

Like most men, I’m a huge fan of big and juicy melons — the firmer and fruitier the better. Yet regardless of how sweet and succulent they are, I’m not prepared to pay 280,000 yen (1,400 pound) to get my sweaty palms on some.

Others however appear to think very differently, as last week the year’s first Densuke watermelons were sold at auction. A type known for its rare black colour.

densuke melon

Of the fifteen watermelons auctioned off, the largest — weighing a big and bouncy 8 kg and measuring an eye-catching 30 cm in diameter — went for the aforementioned sum of 280,000 yen.

Meaning that when it comes to large melons, I’ll unfortunately have to make do with just looking

Categorized: Food and Drink

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. englishman says

    6/13/2005 at 5:16 pm

    i’m sure you can get your hands on some baps for a fraction of the cost of those melons

    Reply
  2. Lee says

    6/13/2005 at 5:45 pm

    Yeah, or a nice pair of coconuts could good be an equally good option.

    Reply
  3. M0 says

    6/13/2005 at 9:36 pm

    Who needs Mellons when you can have BUNS! Mmmmm Nice soft steamed pork BUNS.

    Reply
  4. Peter says

    6/14/2005 at 1:27 am

    For that price, you could fly to some country that has the fruit of choice in season and have a vacation with your mellon…

    Reply
  5. Chui Tey says

    6/14/2005 at 10:24 am

    Isn’t this something like a competitive prestige style auction? In Australia, the first box of mangoes of the season is usually auctioned for for around AUD$30,000 (about USD22000), and the money usually goes to charity.

    Reply
  6. Lee says

    6/14/2005 at 12:11 pm

    It was no charity event I’m afraid, just a group of people desperate to get their hands on some big melons.

    Reply
  7. Midge says

    6/14/2005 at 3:27 pm

    Gods on high! Where I’m from, a nice, juicy 8kg. watermelon will only set you back a little over US$2.00! It’s a very small price to pay for fresh, sweet, and succulent (melon) flesh, innit? I swear, some people’s obsession (dare I say fetish?) with HUGE melons goes a tad too far…

    Reply
  8. rae says

    6/15/2005 at 10:23 am

    boys boys boys….why are old episodes of benny hill running through my mind right now?

    Reply
  9. Toni says

    6/16/2005 at 6:18 am

    Why are watermelons so damn expensive in Japan? Are they made of gold? Platinum? What the hell?

    Reply
  10. sxn says

    8/5/2005 at 4:01 am

    with that money you could catcha plane to Chile, travel throughout the country and have watermelons for breakfast, supper and lunch, all organic, fresh and huge.

    Reply
  11. Jasur Raupov says

    4/22/2006 at 5:06 pm

    I am from Uzbekistan and I want to sell melon and watermelon origin Uzbekistan with competitive price. If u have any demand please send me your all requirements for export to Japan.
    My company name: “Jasur Agro Export” agro stoking company
    tel: +998651908179
    : +998652230389
    fax: +998652234637
    email: [email protected]
    MSN: [email protected]
    bets regadrs,
    CEO
    Mr. Jasur Raupov

    Reply
  12. Rita says

    6/4/2008 at 1:57 am

    Hi, im making a proyect were i want to export melon to japan, if you can help me with something i would really apreciatte. Thanks.

    Reply
  13. Rita says

    6/4/2008 at 1:59 am

    e-mail to contact me is [email protected]

    Reply

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