Black Japanese watermelon sold at record price

TOKYO — A jumbo black watermelon auctioned in Japan on Friday fetched a record $6,100, making it one of the most expensive watermelons ever sold in the country.

In a society where melons are a luxury item commonly given as gifts, the watermelon's hefty price tag followed another jaw-dropping auction last month, when a pair of "Yubari" cantaloupe melons sold for a record $23,500.

The 17-pound, black-skinned "Densuke" watermelon, a variety grown only on the northern island of Hokkaido, was purchased Friday by a marine products dealer who said he wanted to support local agriculture, according to Kyodo News agency.

The price was the highest on record for a Densuke watermelon, said Kazuyoshi Ohira, a spokesman for the Tohma Agricultural Cooperative in Hokkaido. Most retail at department stores and supermarkets for a more modest $188 to $283, Ohira said.

And what makes a watermelon worth $200, much less $6,000?

Ohira says it's the unusual black skin and unparalleled taste. "It's a watermelon, but it's not the same," he said.

Comments

[Vyvjala]

In Japan its been fertilized with the finest human feces........ in the southern part of the United States, we call them "piss chunks."..­..........­..........

[jalapeno]

Get ready for those kind of prices here!

With this new global economy, prices are spiraling out of control, and I have constant diarrhea!!!

[loki]

I guess at those prices, they wont spike it with Vodka over night in the fridge.

I never knew fruits were so rare in Japan. Watermelons, grapes? Is it because they are all imported? Even if it is, I still dont understand the prices. Ive never been to Japan though so i cant make any intelligent opinion. I can only ask questions.

[anastasiabeaverhousen]

The buyer should get together with Brad Pitt and eat the damn thing on Brad's new ugly-ass table.

You know you have too much money when:
1) you spend $6100 on fruit
2) you spend a quarter of a million on an ugly-ass table.

[bikerdude]

If you have the money and don't mind spending it on things like that, then, fine. I wouldn't do it. Of course those people probably would not spend nearly as much as I do/did on really fast motorcycles. Whatever floats your boat....

[revko]

I'm selling blackened bananas for $10,000

[revko]

Does this watermelon have blue tooth?

[bartonfink]

maybe it was purchased by that uppity spike lee. tune into msnbc for further updates...

[dolphy]

That's probably the price we have to pay for a watermelon at the end of a McShame administration if he gets elected (remember Argentina)

[GOPorganizedcrime]

This story sounds like a phony. I figure that it's either a hoax with the intention of manufacturing free press for Japanese agriculture or someone in Japan needs to be committed.

[LiarLiarIraqsOnFire]

Is it filled with Crude Oil?

[OverCoffee]

Wonder if it has seeds.

[ErnestineBass]

I was just thinking "I wants me summa them thar seeds"...lol

[robXdion]

Rotten in 5 days. Way to blow that dough.

[drec1500Madrid]

I hear Brad Pitt is flying to Tokyo this very minute to by 25 of these things.

[CaptainHowdy]

Hey, why isn't HuffPo using this to proclaim that there is no recession, like they usually do with such insipid news stories?

[anfractuous]

Pitiful.