Do Expensive Japanese Fruits Taste Better?
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- Опубліковано 19 бер 2024
- In this one, we visit an all-you-can eat fruits shop, a Nashi (Asian Pear) farm, and do a blind taste test where we try and guess which fruits are cheap and which are expensive.
- Takano Fruits (all-you-can-eat cafe and fruits gift shop) takano.jp/
- Only in Japan's video about super expensive Yubari melons • How Japanese Melons be...
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When looking at expensive fruit in Japan, I think about this one old episode of Iron Chef where the special ingredient was peaches. They profiled the peaches and they were from a tiny farm where this old man and old woman grew them. Each one was so cared for, like they were put in paper bags while they were on the tree to protect them. But peaches get their color from UV rays, so when the brix meter indicated that they were sweet enough for harvest, the old man and old lady would remove the paper bags and spread silver Mylar on the ground and pin back the leaves with paper clips so the fruit get light from all directions. Then they were picked carefully and never stacked to preserve their shape.
I also worked for a time in Wakayama where they grow a lot of plums for umeboshi and also mikan. Most of the farms are very small, and they don’t have low cost immigrant labor, so the fruit they produce is never going to be the cheap option. Instead they focus on the quality of the fruit so they can justify the price - and still earn a living for themselves.
Singapore here.
We can buy those Japaense fruits here. 6 strawberries packed like jewels, 1 tray USD 18, 1 apple in a clear box displayed like a statue for USD 8, 250g green grapes that look like flawless green pearls for USD 25, I saw up to USD 50.
Give your family some fruits after lunch?
Wow, that’s quite something! I’m not sure if all that extra effort would be worth the price, for me, anyway. I find I can get yummy fruit if I buy at the local markets, where fruit is grown nearby and sold seasonally. It’s no more expensive (often less expensive) than the supermarkets which ship fruit from far away, but the flavour and texture is much better. I eat too much fruit for it to just be a special treat.
The amount of care and love going into each individual fruit is so beautiful
Because I know some of you will ask, the fruits cafe is Takano Fruits takano.jp/ (not sponsored!) If you really want to see an in-depth video about super expensive Japanese fruits, I suggest Only in Japan's video about Yubari melons ua-cam.com/video/rpeUoeRtejE/v-deo.htmlsi=66zJHhdMCh8Zqi8u
Thanks for another great video Greg. Can I ask what was your opinion on the fruit cafe vs buying your own fruit in terms of quality and value? With the value being calculated with how much you ate.
“You are not a Peach 🍑 lover.”
That burn 🔥 was felt by all of mankind😂
Thank you very much for this show, it was very fun to watch. I enjoyed how you split up the Fruit Tasting with the information from the farmer, Café and store. This episode gives a good feeling about the thoughts and ideas around fruit in Japan. Befor watching this episode I was not aware of how much thought and effort was put in to the growing and selection of the gift fruits. Thank you.
Idk about these pricy fruit but when i was in japan the superior freshness and tastiness of the produce was immediately noticable. I remember eating a cucumber slice thinking "this is the most delicious slice of cucumber ive ever had in my life"
We're in Japan right now, for the first time, and the oranges and strawberries we've had....WOW. I'm lowkey angry at the supermarkets back home for selling us mid 💩 but then again that's what's available. We'd have a revolution if we could access fruit like there is in Japan.
@@Ivan-fm4eh in the west, they prioritize amount over quality. more water content, less flavor. Its like in deathnote where ryuk says apples from his world taste like sand.
The quality of the edits, the transitions, the humor has evolved and grown. I appreciate the effort put into these, and enjoy them. Thank you
I've never seen a fruit cafe or a place to just taste fruits in Ontario, but vendors at farmers' markets seem to be happy and proud to offer samples of their produce.
Its really crazy how expensive fruits are in Japan and also the role they have in society.
Just for comparison, the price of these fruits in a cheap German supermarket in season:
1 package Cherrys: 2€ (summer)
1 melon: 2€ (summer)
2 mandarins: 0.50€ (winter)
1 peach: 0.30€ (summer)
1kg watermelon: 1.2€ (summer)
1 apple (depending on type): 0.15-0.5€ (all year)
So about a third of prices in japan id say. And I've eaten all of these in Japan too (the cheap versions) and they are not or just slightly better.
17:53 watermelons in morocco for example on a good year (rainy year lets call it) cost like 20 or 30 american cents a kilo. You would get a big watermelon of 3 kilos or even 4. And its sweet. we really enjoy watermelons here
I remember my first experience eating tree ripened peaches. So much better than grocery store products, that they aren't even comparable.
Some fruits simply don't ship and keep well in stores when ripe.
But fresh picked fruit is almost always better. Even apples change surprisingly over some days after picking.
This is a cool concept and Yamamoto sensei has a very positive vibe. I hope we get a part 2!
I get the impression that you're paying for aesthetics and the idea that someone put a lot of effort into achieving that quality of look and consistency. Strikes me as a cultural thing. In America you'd just pay for something to be bigger and tastier, lol.
Ehh, in the us almost ALL of our produce has been painstakingly engineered to look as good as possible for as long as possible, and to be big. Taste it *definitely* not as important. That’s changed somewhat recently with apples, but take apples of the recent past for example. Red Delicious was one of the most popular apples. Taste wise they’re below mediocre, but they’re big, very red, and get a coating of wax for shininess in the store 😅
@@MrKelsomaticI'd rather eat a honeycrisp apple, most of the time for fruit I get what's on sale this week it was dragon fruit which I didn't really like but usually it's too expensive and when I found it on sale took I took the opportunity to try it again.
Honey Crisp are TDF! 🤤@XAnsliX
In Asian culture it’s very common for people to offer and gift food as a way of courtesy so it’s definitely more than for aesthetics.
No you pay for chemical-free harvest. Cancer is a B my friend.
Whenever I come to Japan, I find myself gravitating toward the fruit stalls in the shotengai and the fruit sections of supermarkets. Even the cheap ones that are already cut up and packed for a serving look so appetizing. And I love buying the delicious fruits to go with my cheap breakfasts of konbini onigiri and canned coffee- a luxury I can't have back home.
Strawberries are my favorite- they're so expensive yet bland where I'm from, but even the comparatively cheaper strawberries in Japan are much more delicious. I could literally eat them everyday for the week or so I usually stay in Japan and never get tired.
In the UK apple's are between 25p (40¥) and 75p (160¥) each with a bag of 5 typically going for between £1 (200¥) and £1.25 (240¥).
Canada and the UK are both do far north that the produce is less flavourful so we care much less about buying an expensive version of any fresh fruit or veg.
I never knew this was a thing! I'm a fruit lover and am visiting Japan for the first time this May after dreaming about it for many years (and living vicariously through your videos). Thanks for the great video! I learned a lot
I went to school and Chattanooga, which is on the Georgia Tennessee border. Georgia is known for their peaches. In fact, its nickname is the peach state when I was down there I would ride my bicycle to the farmers market that would happen on the weekend and let me tell you the peaches there were so ripe and juicy that if you bid into them, they would just run down your face, I have yet to have another peach as good as the ones that I used to have in Chattanooga that were fresh off the farm and off the tree. They were so sweet that they would taste like candy and even though they weren’t quite as perfectly shaped they were the sweetest most delicious things I have ever eaten .
I always enjoy your videos. Thanks for making them!
Where I’m from in North America (USA) we don’t have fruit cafes like what you showed in the video. Fruit here is considered more a staple food group, rather than a dessert or special treat. Fruit is sometimes given as gifts (such as edible arrangements, fruit baskets, or fruit of the month subscriptions), but you probably wouldn’t get a fruit gift from the supermarket, and I’ve never seen a market dedicated to fruit for gifts, as was featured in the video. We often eat fruit based desserts (apple pie, banana split, cherry cheesecake), but not usually on its own. For fruit to count as a typical dessert, it usually must have copious amounts of sugar and fat (butter, cream, oil) added.
On the one hand, I think North Americans might do better to have more of an Asian perspective of fruit, viewing it as a sweet treat or something special. This brings more of a positive association with fruit, and perhaps would replace the less healthy desserts that we often eat. However, the greatest dietary contributor to disease is not eating enough fruit. I would hate for cost to deter people from eating an essential food group. Fruit should be eaten everyday, multiple servings per day, whether that’s with breakfast, for a snack, or as a dessert. I’m not sure which would encourage North Americans to eat more fruit: to think of it as a special treat or indulgence (psychologically making it more appealing) because it’s more expensive and grown with greater care, or to think of it as a staple food group to include in large amounts, and as a result being less expensive but grown with less care (financially making it more accessible). Bottom line, I think it’s important that we all eat fruit, each and every day.
This was a very fun video to watch. One of my dream trips is to travel to tropical regions in order to try local fruit, ripened on the tree. I’m sure that the mangoes, lychees, and golden berries I can access where I live are not nearly as good as what I’d find in Hawaii, Southern Asia, South and Central America, and Africa. It would be amazing to try the local fruits there - many of which probably don’t even make their way to the markets where I’m from.
I find that in southern Ontario we can get some amazing fruit when you're in the right season for it. For example, strawberries and peaches are extremely sweet and juicy when they're in season. I'm sure that must be the case for other places too!
Also, I try not to buy imported fruits out of season as they're more likely to be very bland!
Thanks for the video! It was fun!
Thanks!
The reason why fruit is so expensive and highly valued in both Japan and South Korea compared to the West is that both countries are much smaller and quite mountainous, so there's little land leftover for growing fruit. I believe I've also heard that the climate or growing season isn't as conducive to growing them (that's why a lot of them are grown in special greenhouses).
Thanks for the informative look at the unique fruit culture in Japan!
Edit: I saw a video a long time ago on the Texan in Tokyo's channel. There was an episode of them working on the husband's family's farm in the country. I believe they mentioned that a sad fact is that even though not as much fruit can be grown in Japan, a lot of it ends up wasted because a significant proportion of the city dwelling consumers prefer and will only buy extremely aesthetic looking fruit.
People put much time and effort to improve and create better kinds of fruits in Japan. That's why they are so expensive. Then Korea laterally steals those fruits from Japan lol.
Even though I find the price scaling absurd, I fully enjoyed this! Arigato gozaimasu!
I think RIPENESS has lots to do with flavor and sweetnes 😊 btw even bad apple can be made sweet by baking or microvave for 1 or 2 minutes
I've read that, over 100 years ago, pineapples were something of a status symbol. They only grew in specific tropical regions, so it was a way to show off your wealth that you were able to get one.
I've heard these ridiculously expensive fruits in Japan are mostly used as gifts rather than something you buy for yourself to eat. I suppose it's could be a flex to gift someone a $50 orange or a $500 watermelon.
In the late 18th century UK the pineapple could only be grown in green houses with expensive glass and heating systems so they were such a prized item that there were companies that specialised in renting them out as table decorations for people to try and show off their wealth, of course, only the truly wealthy could grow and even eat them.
Great video, thanks for doing all this with eating, rating, revealing the fruits, and mixing in a bit of what the farmers were saying too. always entertaining and educational, thanks again!
wow, that all you can eat fruit place looks awesome! great price, too.
Idk why but perfect looking fruits put me off sometimes like when it looks so good it starts looking fake and it makes me feel like it won’t taste good. And i dont necessarily want my fruits to be as sweet as possible either.
But its interesting that Japan and Korea are so intense about their fruit lol
Interesting video, thanks for posting! I didn't know they had a fruit bar to taste high end fruit, but that's def something I'd be interested to try if I visit someday.
You are so positive and I really like you. Thank you.
Nice video. 😊🙏
What makes it more expensive is the R&D effort that went into the selective breeding process. This could take decades!
Unsurprisingly, tastier fruit is usually more expensive like Honeycrisp apples or the Sekai-Ichi apple.
Sometimes, another reason could be how hard that variety is to grow.
Thanks for the test, Greg! I would very much like to try all this expensive fruit myself, but I can only afford some discounted シャインマスカット or such once in a while. It always feels like it’s wrong to pay that much for a fruit. That being said, after moving from Tokyo to the other side of the Arakawa (aka Saitama), I still need to find a cheap 八百屋 nearby the new house.
BTW: This “You are not a peach lover” moment and your face when she said it, was gold. 😂
When I was growing up, my grandpa grew all these fruits (and far more vegetables). I could tell which of these were most expensive by their colors (except the cherries and apples). I miss real fruits and veggies.
This was interesting. The lady provided great insight and very knowledgeable about out of season, etc. I would like to try peach too.
That fruit grower edu moment was really interesting. You can tell the Oji-san is really passionate and knowledgeable
the best place to test taste good food products is at the auction house when the products are tested. often on special days like the start of a certain food season the inspectors will pick out what batch or wich version is the very best.
the fun is as a guest you often are allowed to also just taste. and sure to be hold the farmers will all bring there best of the very best they can bring.
the thing about apples is that the type affects taste way more than price. honeycrisps are super expensive but im not a big fan of them while gala is very inexpensive but tastes way better imo (and has a better texture). fuji apples are the best though
Not peach lover 🤣
I think what's happened with the melon is that they are cheaper because they are harvested too soon and aren't fully ripened because then they last longer.
There are fruit tasting, but it's typically only industry people, as in fruit vendors and suppliers and restaurant etc.
Thank you very much for another insight in Japanese culture. I really liked your lectures in the video, but honestly it was sometimes difficult to switch between contest and lecture for me.
We visited Japan in 2017, and found the price of fruit in markets/stores was surprisingly expensive. It was always well presented, fresh looking & tasty. As well portions were always much smaller than what you would normally purchase in Canada.
Wait… There is a fruit tasting restaurant in Japan?? That’s something I have to put in my to-do list.😮
I did try a yogurt thing at a fancy white strawberries and some other fruit. IT was amazing.
I guess strawberries are out of season. Stateside you can tell the difference between a California raised Driscol brand and a NY raised Oshii brand. I always get a set of Oshii berries when I'm in town. I thought it was better than strawberries I bought at Mitsukoshi.
Hi, Greg, yes, there are a handful of fruit tastings in the US . Mostly by fruit farmers or fruit sellers.
My home town in Australia grows cherries, apples and avocados and our fruit is very cheap and also exceptionally good so I can't comprehend paying so much for aesthetics!
All of these expensive fruit is kind of joke if you visit Colombia or Brazil.
You need a bigger budget. I was expecting you to try the $50 mangoes, $100 melons.
i completely understood what you were saying about the peaches here in ontario lol
I'd be happy to pay if that meant fair wages for a humane amount of work for the farmers. Btw did not expect but really appreciate the educational segments!!! 😊
I love this, fruits in the US are just normal everyday foods, while Japan it's for gifting or special occasions 😅
I still remember my 4 euro peach from the trip I took to Japan last year. It was the most expensive fruit I've eveer bought by far but tbh it was an amazing peach. I think this is something you can buy as a treat in a similar way as when you buy some cake or pastries at a bakery, only healthier
Yamamoto Sensei is gorgeous! 😍 Lovely video and very funny!
Great discussion, but it was confusing sometimes to figure the prices. Were they all by the each, or were some yen/kg (which would be a better comparison)? Your sensei seemed to really enjoy the experience!
Generally by the each. The only one where it wasn't was the cherries (that was for the whole pack).
Farmers markets will sometimes have plates of cut fruits that the customers can taste test and decide which one they like best to buy. And one of the largest H-Marts I've seen in the tri-state area, they would cut up fruits or grill some meats for people to taste test in their respective sections. It's not quite the same as what you were speaking of, but that's the closest I can think of for 'fruits tasting'.
This was fun and I am hungry gor fruit!
I used to work for a delivery service that served specialized fruit arrangements and these are the freshest ive ever seen. lol
Lovely video. I especially enjoyed the EDU moments.
As an older adult, I barely eat fruit. I used to love them as a child, but they became too bland unless I got them straight from the tree. Moreover many times they gave me a stomachache. So after awhile, I just stopped eating fruits, except for some that I make into jams or syrup.
Great video. It is nice to see Yamamoto Sensei, in this video. FYI, "tabe kurabe", in Google Translate, says, the English is: taste comparison. Which is what you were doing. Thank you Ako-san for helping with this video. I love to see your videos.
9:24 is the price per one? Because B seems to have less so it is more expensive if the price is per one
Been following this channel for a long time! I even met you guys when you went to Vancouver. I was wondering, does Aiko and her brother still want to be a part of this channel? I would love an update video of them if there is one! :)
In my experience living in Korea, the very expensive luxury fruits found mostly in high end department stores here tend to be sugary sweet. Beyond that qualities vary, for example, the most expensive mangos feel almost like butter in texture.
That said, I don't really exactly prefer them? I like tartness, sourness and even bitterness, it is these qualities that are usually targeted out of these designer fruits.
Dont know if you can do that but it would be interesting to show the process how an outside brand opens un japan (im referring to bershka) 🎉
If the watermelons were priced per kg it seems like they may have been similar in price...
I think you’re right.
😊i also test japanese fruit, i like white peach🍑kyoho grapes🍇 different types of strawberries🍓 melon🍈and mango's🥭😊 there more fresher and juices overload.
Here in the netherlands is cheaper then japan in fruits, on markets a case full of strawberries 1,50-5euro. Melons 1,80 to 7 euros depends the variants, mango's 1,60-4 euro, we do have lot a different apples Holland apples country 0,25 cent to sacks-5 euro. Grapes 1,40-5euro depends shippend ones, but netherlands grow fruits too, outside or inside glass houses. I also have outside garden with fruits plumes, apples elstar(mostly common elsa-s class fris chrunchy apple)🍎but mostly fruits are shippend from other eu lands, or asian fruits prices range to 1,80-5 euro😊
When it comes to watermelon seeds, learning to chew without crunching them and just swallowing really streamlines the eating process and makes it more pleasurable, easier than spitting them out all the time. However, sometimes I do like to chew the seeds too, they have their own appeal, but the mood for them is different and less common than the mood for watermelon flesh.
I'm curious what the price comparison would be to Japanese Costco as opposed to a Japanese grocery store. We buy quite a few of our fruits from our local Costco, and they are both delicious and reasonably priced (in the US).
I think the high cost would also mean that there is consistency. At low price points, the consistency could fluctuate but higher cost guarantees consistency. Also, the cheap watermelon was also tiny. By volume, it likely cost the same as the large, expensive one. Thanks for the video!
In Singapore, we have all-you-can-eat durian buffet.
I'm really curious about the apple varieties, esp if all 3 were the same or not. when it comes to apples I'm used to a lot of different varieties and my taste for them varies
No. But what makes Japanese fruits great is the consistency.
If you have the 7/11 apple cuts everyday for a year, you will find that the taste and texture stay the same throughout the whole year. Never once had I had a pack that's sour or saggy. It's always sweet and crisp, and at about the same level.
There are various kinds of mangoes, bananas, oranges papayas and so on 😊
This was a fun one! Fruit is definitely more expensive here but I think the taste is better, especially apples. Some apples have basically no flavor in North America. Things are changing though. It feels like people are pushing for better tasting fruit in NA now.
I have only tried the expensive melon and strawberries, and I think they are defenitely worth the premium.
My biggest question is how did you manage to get all these fruits at once for this video? Because they’re so seasonal and out at different times. Peach and watermelon don’t overlap in my knowledge and I’ve been eating fruits for years living in Tokyo. I know some prefectures do have certain fruits out earlier
I think The closest equivalent would probably be a charcuterie board only cheese and meats. I’ve never heard of fruit on charcuterie boards, there could be though
I can't wait for BC blue berries
When I lived in Japan I ate mostly grapefruit and Kiwi which were cheap probably because they are more sour and less sweet.
2:03 - Japanese person trying not to exclaim to the camera about what they're eating challenge! (Impossible)
Normal vegetables in Japan are so delicious, there i started eating them regulary.
Fun video.
I recommend you to to Thailand. There are lots of fruits all year round. Cheap and good. At that time you can tell😊
Guatemala has fruit all year long so basically their some fruits that don`t existed like the cherries cause does are from cold weather. But Bananas, Watermelons, Melons, Papayas, you get all of this in less time and effort of course. Prices are cheaper of course, 12 bananas would cost you 1.2 dollars or so depending as well quality a melon can cost 1 dollar or so. But we are tropical weather so...
That woman is gorgeous! That hairstyle fits her perfectly.
Well done but I think fruits and vegetables all seem to taste much better in Japan then it does in many other countries.
If you could have gotten like "foreign" produced fruits to compare with local ones it would probably have been a much bigger difference.
I am not a big fan neither of Fruits nor Vegetables but in Japan most of the stuff is actually really good.
If you read that I have a "request"
would you ever consider doing a video about public gyms ? I know that there are many in Tokyo and probably in other areas too but as a foreigner its really hard to find them ;(
When I was on working Holiday I only found like 3 in Tokyo and only because I had friends who showed me but I just couldn't find any outside of Tokyo even though I did carry my sports equipment around with me.
It would be cool to see some of those places and what they offer as well as some info on how to find them.
I know here in the US honeycrisp is pretty expensive for a grocery store apple. But its by far the best.
Cosmic Crisps are usually better.
The cultural context really helps explain why the Higashikata family in Jojolion is really well-off
Wow, knew fruit had a cost, but not that much! This is going to be a great video.
Yes they're! We've worked tirelessly to produce the best fruit ever so please respect it.
I always assumed they are mostly for prestige (gifts and status) and mostly for immaculate looks
In a lot of South America most common fruits are cheap enough that the main limiting factor in people’s purchases is if the fruits will go bad before they get a chance to eat them.
In Ontario tje supermarket peaches are terrible. You have to get them straight from the farm.
I wached the video already on Nebula, but I still wanted to comment for the Algorithm
Soon enough UA-cam will go sub due to influx of decent AI videos in a couple of years.
'It sucks,' I didn't expect that.
I love how Japanese speakers insert "kuchiguse" like "nanka" and "ettoo" into English. It's like when English speakers through "ums," and "y'know" into Japanese!
YEAAA OKANAGAN PEACHES REPRESENT!!!!!!
Sensei is a smoke-show
Surprised fruit is cheaper in Canada than Japan since Canada also must import most of their fruit. In the US apples (Washington)and oranges (California and Florida) are cheap since they're natively grown there.
For the word you were looking for at the end “Taste Test”
Yeah, that would work!
it's probably half marketing, half actual time and care put into developing such fruit. something mass produced versus selectively picked/bred for.