Lady Gaga teacup fetches $75 300

Tokyo - Fans of Lady Gaga bidding on a teacup and saucer used only once by the pop diva had offered more than $75 000 for the item by the time the hammer fell, a Japanese auction site said on Monday.

With more than 1 300 bids, the week-long auction finished at 14:00 on Sunday, with a top offer of 6 011 000 yen, Yahoo! Japan, which managed the charity event, said.

The cup was used by Lady Gaga at a press conference in Tokyo three months after the massive tsunami of March last year swamped a large stretch of coastline.

Lady Gaga told reporters at the time that she would auction the cup, marked with her lipstick and bearing the Japanese message "We pray for Japan" along with the star's autograph.

Asian tour

All the money raised will be used to help young Japanese artists who want to study in the United States.

The teacup was one of a number of items being sold to raise money for those affected by Japan's worst post-war calamity, and was the second most expensive lot.

The top-priced item was a Kawai crystal piano used by Yoshiki of rock band Japan X, which went for 11 001 000 yen, Yahoo! Japan said.

The natural disaster killed some 19 000 people on Japan's northeast coast and sparked the world's worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, leading to a plunge in visitors to the country.

Lady Gaga visited Japan twice after the disaster and called on tourists from around the world to follow suit.

The songstress is due back in Japan this week as part of an Asian tour.