TOKYO, May 24 (Xinhua) -- A pair of melons from a city in Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido fetched a record price of 5 million yen (45,500 U.S. dollars) in the first auction of the season on Friday.

The record sale of the melons, grown by farmers in the city of Yubari, at a wholesale market in Sapporo, beat the record set last year which saw the melons sold for 3.2 million yen (29,000 U.S. dollars).

The winning bid was made by Nagoya-based beverage maker Pokka Sapporo. The firm said it bought the melons in twine with the 10th anniversary of the release of its melon-flavored soda water and to help boost the local economy of Yubari.

"As our company was founded in Sapporo, I had been thinking there must be something I can do for Hokkaido," local media quoted the president of the firm, Yoshihiro Iwata, as saying.

The melons will be put on display for the public from Saturday through Wednesday, at Sapporo Dome and New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido.

The melons usually retail in supermarkets for between 4,000 to 10,000 yen (36-91 U.S. dollars) each and are often given as seasonal gifts to family, friends and colleagues in Japan.

Often coming in ornately decorated boxes, premium Yubari melons are considered to be a status symbol in Japan.