A large male snow crab has fetched 5 million yen, or about 44,000 US dollars, at the season's first auction in central Japan, NHK reported.

The auction of the winter delicacy was held on Saturday evening at a market at Kanazawa port on the Sea of Japan coast.

A chef from a company that runs local hot spring inns made the winning bid.

It was the second snow crab to fetch 5 million yen. In 2019, one auctioned in Tottori Prefecture in western Japan won the same bidding price.