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.
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.
10:00 it looks like A is actually the cheaper item because the box is bigger with more mandarins? Did you guys do price/count or price/kgs, it's not clear.
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
Southern USA loves watermelons too. Well, all over the US but even more in the south. Apples and oranges tend to be more popular in the north than south. Watermelons in the US are usually sold per unit and not weight and if it’s in season, they go for $5-$7 for the larger watermelons. My guess on weight is 10-15lbs or 4-6kg. They also sell smaller more round watermelons (larger tend to be oval). They sell for $3-$6 in season and weigh 5-10lbs or 2-4kg.
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.
Cucumber? It's because you never made your own fruits and vegetables... In Europe we have 1000% better, tasteful fruits than in Japan and way cheaper... Ridiculous...
@@understone86 "in europe" where in europe? in france they were good but still short of japan. spain they tasted the same as the US. but the vegetables from london were the most disgusting ive ever had in my life. rather eat dog food
@@nullakjg767I guess you tried the supermarket quality and not the farmers market quality. The traditional varieties made by actual farmers are so much better EVERYWHERE. I'm from Hungary and grew up eating the fruits my grandparents made. Nothing compares those aromatic, full taste produces. And even though currently I live in an agricultural area of Japan, cultivation of specific fruits are restricted to specific regions, because the climate is so diverse here. Still many fruit varieties are genetically modified or hybrids made for japanese climate and market needs in the 20.th century, and they were highly focused on the high sugar content while making them. Most cases sugar content are proudly stated on the packaging and the advertising boards of these fruits. Still lacking authentic taste.
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.
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.
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 😅
@@KelsomaticPDXI'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.
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.
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
When I last visited Japan, one of the things I really liked was the helpful signs like the apple section had a big noticeboard describing each variety's taste and texture.
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 have some Chinese friends and went to visit China. They love oranages especially mandarin oranges. It’s almost like a desert or sweet snack to them. They have bowls of it and it’s what guy offer guest instead of chocolates or chips or whatever snacks are offered in the USA
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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. 😂
I grew up in Japan and our house was near a good shotengai. Even with my parents being the thrifty people they were, fruit was a joy growing up, my dad would seek out peaches and strawberries that were almost turning into wine, we would have to eat all the strawberries in one go. The peaches would perfume the house and we would all scarf them down. Nashi were so good I would always eat one or two a day in season, mikan you would eat so many your palms turned slightly orange. The comedown of coming to the US and the tasteless produce here, no wonder you can’t get people to eat fruits and vegetables, they taste like nothing. It seems like most people here want fruit to be crisp, which mostly is not what fruit is supposed to be. There are great heirloom apples that have almost disappeared because they don’t have some artificially engineered level of crispness.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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 .
100%. I’m in Chicago and I’m sure most of the US store bought peaches are the same - somewhat bland or acidic. But we have farmers market and some people like me also go to Michigan durian the summer and you can get fresh grown peaches. THOSE are great and I buy them when I can. I never buy supermarket peaches - never had a truly good one
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.
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!!! 😊
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.
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.
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
For the mandarin oranges, B should actually be considered more expensive because there is less fruit in that package whereas A is more expensive, but contained more fruit. So the price per fruit makes B more expensive.
I live in Hong Kong. We have fruits from all over the world, especially from Japan and Southeast Asia. I love peaches and strawberries. They are much sweeter than those from other countries because of the way they grow. Peaches of premium grades usually sold for HKD 40-60 (USD 5-8) per piece. Strawberries usually sold for the same price per package.
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'.
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
My father actually told me this a year ago: japan use precise farming, where they control the environment, and it helps so much with the quality. Because land are limited, fruit also limited. But in the term of food safety, they are more secure than some other first country, it is because if you live in the city, you still find some land for farming, and their local cuisine is thriving, for example: if you go to fisherman village, they have their own local seafood cuisine.
The 1800+ yen strawberries that I had in Nasu, Tochigi prefecture, last December were well worth their price. Thew were grown locally and had a unique aroma and taste, while being so juicy and sweet at the same time. Probably not the most expensive strawberries that could be had but I think that you don't have to pay crazy prices to appreciate an increase in the quality and flavour of the fruit.
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
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!
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!
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.
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.
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! :)
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.
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'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
I know very little Japanese… but… sugoi… very cute. And interesting input from everyone. A little skeptical of those sweetness lasers… and … no disrespect… it seems Japan is in a bit of a tight mentality around the specialness of the growing and distribution. Fruit is such a natural thing. Arigato. So sweet and funny. I would love to have a partner in Japan so interested and attentive to enjoying life like you do. Take good care… sincerely, a fellow fruit lover.
Expensive fruit even for the cheap option. For comparison on prices, here is what I typically see for pricing on the standard/regular when in season of each fruit in the video: cherries: $2-$3.50 per pound or $4-$7 per kg (in the video, $5 for what looks like less than 1lb or 0.5kg) cantaloupe melon: $2-$3 each ($7 in the video) mandarin oranges: $1-$1.50 oer pound or $2.50-$3.50 per kg ($1.20 for what looks to be close to one pound or half kg) Peaches: $3 per pound or $6-$7 per kg ($2.80 for 1 piece which probably 2 to 2.5 pieces per lb for $6-$8 per pound price) Watermelon: $3-$5 for one piece similar in size to the cheaper option ($4 in the video) Apples: $1-$1.75 per pound depending on variety or $2-$4 per kg ($1.20 for 1 apple which would be about $2.40-$3.00 per pound)
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.
Were any of the fruits organic? I've had organic produce in Japan. Did the farmer discuss this at all? Or how about genetically modified? There's a lot of choices made by the growers and sellers that I'd like to know more about.
I saw these Japanese fruit in Thailand. They are really pretty in person, almost fake. I couldn't justify buying them when I feel that regular fruit in SE Asia is tasty as is!
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...
Because the Japanese yen has been valued for a long time, domestic farmers have been producing agricultural products either as luxury goods or as ingredients for processed products such as juice.
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 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!
Never understood why people spit out watermelon seeds, it's not like cherry seeds that are way larger. I mean, you can safely eat them, but I know why not to eat the cherry seeds. Maybe it's a North American thing?
North American farmers thin their fruit too, some trees would make so much it would break the branches. So many of those whole apples for school lunch get thrown away.
I live in Japan for about a decade but im from Eastern Europe. The fruits are good looking here and taste sweet but they tend to lack complexity and intensity of taste and aroma.The sugar-acid balance of japanese produces are also not so good, except for the citrus fruits. Asian species are fundamentally different from european varieties but I still prefer what i used to eat back home.
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.
人間は食べ慣れた味を美味しいと感じる。おふくろの味がまさしくそれ。
1番安いチェリーの評価が高かったと言うことは、庶民的な生活をしてるのでは？😊
日本の高級フルーツは間違えなく美味しい基準で最高レベル。でも安いモノを美味しいと感じられるのが1番の幸せかも。
10:00 it looks like A is actually the cheaper item because the box is bigger with more mandarins? Did you guys do price/count or price/kgs, it's not clear.
I'm American. We care about freedom of speech and right to bear arms. We don't care too much on fruit - fructose is worse than sugar.
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
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
Southern USA loves watermelons too. Well, all over the US but even more in the south. Apples and oranges tend to be more popular in the north than south.
Watermelons in the US are usually sold per unit and not weight and if it’s in season, they go for $5-$7 for the larger watermelons. My guess on weight is 10-15lbs or 4-6kg.
They also sell smaller more round watermelons (larger tend to be oval). They sell for $3-$6 in season and weigh 5-10lbs or 2-4kg.
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.
“You are not a Peach 🍑 lover.”
That burn 🔥 was felt by all of mankind😂
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.
Cucumber? It's because you never made your own fruits and vegetables... In Europe we have 1000% better, tasteful fruits than in Japan and way cheaper... Ridiculous...
@@understone86 "in europe" where in europe? in france they were good but still short of japan. spain they tasted the same as the US. but the vegetables from london were the most disgusting ive ever had in my life. rather eat dog food
@@nullakjg767I guess you tried the supermarket quality and not the farmers market quality. The traditional varieties made by actual farmers are so much better EVERYWHERE. I'm from Hungary and grew up eating the fruits my grandparents made. Nothing compares those aromatic, full taste produces. And even though currently I live in an agricultural area of Japan, cultivation of specific fruits are restricted to specific regions, because the climate is so diverse here. Still many fruit varieties are genetically modified or hybrids made for japanese climate and market needs in the 20.th century, and they were highly focused on the high sugar content while making them. Most cases sugar content are proudly stated on the packaging and the advertising boards of these fruits. Still lacking authentic taste.
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.
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.
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 😅
@@KelsomaticPDXI'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.
This is a cool concept and Yamamoto sensei has a very positive vibe. I hope we get a part 2!
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.
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 always enjoy your videos. Thanks for making them!
When I last visited Japan, one of the things I really liked was the helpful signs like the apple section had a big noticeboard describing each variety's taste and texture.
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¥).
Another video with high quality content. I am amazed by the sheer diversity of experiences which make up the edu moments. Great going Greg san..!
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 have some Chinese friends and went to visit China. They love oranages especially mandarin oranges. It’s almost like a desert or sweet snack to them. They have bowls of it and it’s what guy offer guest instead of chocolates or chips or whatever snacks are offered in the USA
Even though I find the price scaling absurd, I fully enjoyed this! Arigato gozaimasu!
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!
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!
You are so positive and I really like you. Thank you.
Nice video. 😊🙏
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.
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.
wow, that all you can eat fruit place looks awesome! great price, too.
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.
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
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.
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
That fruit grower edu moment was really interesting. You can tell the Oji-san is really passionate and knowledgeable
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.
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.
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. 😂
I grew up in Japan and our house was near a good shotengai. Even with my parents being the thrifty people they were, fruit was a joy growing up, my dad would seek out peaches and strawberries that were almost turning into wine, we would have to eat all the strawberries in one go. The peaches would perfume the house and we would all scarf them down. Nashi were so good I would always eat one or two a day in season, mikan you would eat so many your palms turned slightly orange.
The comedown of coming to the US and the tasteless produce here, no wonder you can’t get people to eat fruits and vegetables, they taste like nothing. It seems like most people here want fruit to be crisp, which mostly is not what fruit is supposed to be. There are great heirloom apples that have almost disappeared because they don’t have some artificially engineered level of crispness.
This was interesting. The lady provided great insight and very knowledgeable about out of season, etc. I would like to try peach too.
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.
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.
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.
9:24 is the price per one? Because B seems to have less so it is more expensive if the price is per one
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.
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.
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 .
100%. I’m in Chicago and I’m sure most of the US store bought peaches are the same - somewhat bland or acidic. But we have farmers market and some people like me also go to Michigan durian the summer and you can get fresh grown peaches. THOSE are great and I buy them when I can. I never buy supermarket peaches - never had a truly good one
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.
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 😅
Hi, Greg, yes, there are a handful of fruit tastings in the US . Mostly by fruit farmers or fruit sellers.
Yamamoto Sensei is gorgeous! 😍 Lovely video and very funny!
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.
Haters : “this is so expensive and stupid”
*Proceed to pay $15 for a BigMac combo meal
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.
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
For the mandarin oranges, B should actually be considered more expensive because there is less fruit in that package whereas A is more expensive, but contained more fruit. So the price per fruit makes B more expensive.
I think it was price per 1 fruit. Too cheap for several mandarins. Impossible.
I live in Hong Kong. We have fruits from all over the world, especially from Japan and Southeast Asia. I love peaches and strawberries. They are much sweeter than those from other countries because of the way they grow. Peaches of premium grades usually sold for HKD 40-60 (USD 5-8) per piece. Strawberries usually sold for the same price per package.
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'.
There are fruit tasting, but it's typically only industry people, as in fruit vendors and suppliers and restaurant etc.
I think we need a part two! :D
Wait… There is a fruit tasting restaurant in Japan?? That’s something I have to put in my to-do list.😮
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
My father actually told me this a year ago: japan use precise farming, where they control the environment, and it helps so much with the quality. Because land are limited, fruit also limited. But in the term of food safety, they are more secure than some other first country, it is because if you live in the city, you still find some land for farming, and their local cuisine is thriving, for example: if you go to fisherman village, they have their own local seafood cuisine.
I used to work for a delivery service that served specialized fruit arrangements and these are the freshest ive ever seen. lol
The 1800+ yen strawberries that I had in Nasu, Tochigi prefecture, last December were well worth their price. Thew were grown locally and had a unique aroma and taste, while being so juicy and sweet at the same time. Probably not the most expensive strawberries that could be had but I think that you don't have to pay crazy prices to appreciate an increase in the quality and flavour of the fruit.
Not peach lover 🤣
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
You need a bigger budget. I was expecting you to try the $50 mangoes, $100 melons.
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).
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!
When I lived in Japan I ate mostly grapefruit and Kiwi which were cheap probably because they are more sour and less sweet.
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.
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.
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! :)
For the mandarin…. is it priced per fruit or the bundle? Because the A bundle looks like there are nearly double
I did try a yogurt thing at a fancy white strawberries and some other fruit. IT was amazing.
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.
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'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
2:03 - Japanese person trying not to exclaim to the camera about what they're eating challenge! (Impossible)
I know very little Japanese… but… sugoi… very cute. And interesting input from everyone.
A little skeptical of those sweetness lasers… and … no disrespect… it seems Japan is in a bit of a tight mentality around the specialness of the growing and distribution. Fruit is such a natural thing.
Arigato. So sweet and funny. I would love to have a partner in Japan so interested and attentive to enjoying life like you do.
Take good care… sincerely, a fellow fruit lover.
Expensive fruit even for the cheap option. For comparison on prices, here is what I typically see for pricing on the standard/regular when in season of each fruit in the video:
cherries: $2-$3.50 per pound or $4-$7 per kg (in the video, $5 for what looks like less than 1lb or 0.5kg)
cantaloupe melon: $2-$3 each ($7 in the video)
mandarin oranges: $1-$1.50 oer pound or $2.50-$3.50 per kg ($1.20 for what looks to be close to one pound or half kg)
Peaches: $3 per pound or $6-$7 per kg ($2.80 for 1 piece which probably 2 to 2.5 pieces per lb for $6-$8 per pound price)
Watermelon: $3-$5 for one piece similar in size to the cheaper option ($4 in the video)
Apples: $1-$1.75 per pound depending on variety or $2-$4 per kg ($1.20 for 1 apple which would be about $2.40-$3.00 per pound)
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) 🎉
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.
The cultural context really helps explain why the Higashikata family in Jojolion is really well-off
i completely understood what you were saying about the peaches here in ontario lol
Were any of the fruits organic? I've had organic produce in Japan. Did the farmer discuss this at all? Or how about genetically modified? There's a lot of choices made by the growers and sellers that I'd like to know more about.
I recommend you to to Thailand. There are lots of fruits all year round. Cheap and good. At that time you can tell😊
❤Nagano grapes❤️ a cluster costs almost
USD$88 but well worth it.
I saw these Japanese fruit in Thailand. They are really pretty in person, almost fake. I couldn't justify buying them when I feel that regular fruit in SE Asia is tasty as is!
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...
YEAAA OKANAGAN PEACHES REPRESENT!!!!!!
Because the Japanese yen has been valued for a long time, domestic farmers have been producing agricultural products either as luxury goods or as ingredients for processed products such as juice.
I agree, but they don’t export much, if anything. It has always baffled me.
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 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!
If the watermelons were priced per kg it seems like they may have been similar in price...
I think you’re right.
Never understood why people spit out watermelon seeds, it's not like cherry seeds that are way larger. I mean, you can safely eat them, but I know why not to eat the cherry seeds. Maybe it's a North American thing?
North American farmers thin their fruit too, some trees would make so much it would break the branches. So many of those whole apples for school lunch get thrown away.
This was fun and I am hungry gor fruit!
it's probably half marketing, half actual time and care put into developing such fruit. something mass produced versus selectively picked/bred for.
4:41. No... I didn't know there was such a thing... 😲
7:15. OK... This one I did know... 🙂
I live in Japan for about a decade but im from Eastern Europe. The fruits are good looking here and taste sweet but they tend to lack complexity and intensity of taste and aroma.The sugar-acid balance of japanese produces are also not so good, except for the citrus fruits. Asian species are fundamentally different from european varieties but I still prefer what i used to eat back home.