But even more important than delicious flavors and meticulous care is Japan’s gift-giving culture. It is a sign of respect to give gifts for business dealings, for special occasions and social events, or when returning home after traveling (known as omiyage). High-quality, expensive fruits are a valued symbol of respect within this practice.
Ah, if it was only the thought that counted... :)
Honestly though, I wonder if there's a cottage industry around expensive gifts in Japan, if this is the case. Is it easy to market a new fruit growing technique to produce the hot new omiyage and sell it at an insane mark up? Because that seems to be what matters more than utility or thoughtfulness.
The price sticker clearly says 9800円 (yen), which is similar to $100 (especially CAD), not $2000.
宮崎産: Miazaki san: product of Miyazaki Prefecture.
Still, $100 is well into diminshing returns of crazy, so $2000 wouldn't make much of a difference.
I don’t oppose giving expensive fruits as gifts, but it gets weird if it also means fruits become generally unaffordable for casual/daily consumption.
If memory serves, when I stayed in Tokyo for a month some 15 or 16 years ago, I was absolutely puzzled by the lack of affordable fruit.
Besides, Japanese produce growers seem to have an unhealthy obsession with sweetness. Most Japanese fruits seem to be advertised for their sweetness, and they ARE sweet, so much so that you taste almost nothing else, not even hints of fruitiness.
Reminded me of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yubari_King .
Is that $2,000 price a real thing, or just a publicity stunt?
They cite that as happening at a wholesale auction. The photograph depicts mango for 9800 yen, about $100. Still absurd, but more than an order of magnitude less.
It puts me in mind of the guy who breaks records every year by buying a tuna for millions of dollars:
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/01/07/168813383/th...