Unpacking Japan’s Obsession With Fruit

Luxury shopping in Japan may conjure up ideas of exquisite kimonos, hand-painted porcelain, or flagship international fashion stores. Still, you can also spend significant amounts of money on the perfect fruit, too.

For an insight into the esteem in which Japan’s luxury fruit is held, and to see some of the eye-watering prices firsthand, visit the luxury fruit store, Sembikiya. Japan’s best-known specialty fruit shop first opened in Tokyo’s chic Nihonbashi area in 1834 and remains a prestigious place to buy flawless, perfectly packaged fruit.

The store’s aesthetic is akin to a sleek wine store, and, like a wine store, great importance is placed on how the fruit tastes, where it was grown, and by whom. These beautiful fruits are, of course, impeccably presented, making them popular gifts.

Fruit baskets are a popular gift worldwide, but in Japan, gift-giving is elevated to a national pastime, and a single piece of high-quality fruit is also a popular gift. Gifting fruit has a long history in Japan partly because it is a consumable good that won’t clutter up people’s homes, so it is a considerate gift.

But there’s also a historical precedent for fruit gifting. It has traditionally been offered at Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, and, in the fourteenth century, samurais would bring fruit to shogun (military leader) to show their respect. Samurai descendants founded Sembikiya itself.

Like an edible status symbol, it is the value implicitly understood in these perfect pieces of fruit that carries significance rather than the fruit itself.

This phenomenon is exemplified by single strawberries packaged as gifts which you can find around Valentine's Day, a day when women traditionally buy gifts for men. Hokkaido's fragrant Yubari melon is another popular fruit to give as a gift. In addition to the implied value of these fruits, the popularity of gifting them stems from Japan's synergy with the seasons. Eating seasonally is a foundational part of the Japanese diet, so when a fruit reappears on the shelves after months of being away, people take the opportunity to celebrate it.

Ume (plums) are a good example of a seasonal fruit. Blossoming ume trees kick off the spring season, which is overshadowed by the blossoming of sakura (cherry blossoms) a few weeks later. But while most sakura trees are cultivated to bloom but not bear fruit, ume fruits are plucked, pickled, and commonly used in Japanese meals as a sour side dish, called umeboshi, or made into a thick sweet liquor, called umeshu.

Even outside Japan's fruit boutiques (fruitiques?), you can find individually packed, photogenic fruit in almost every supermarket, grocery store, and department store. Misshapen, bruised, or dented fruits have no place on a shop shelf in Japan.

One of Japan's most famous fancy fruits is the cubic watermelon, which has gained worldwide attention. These purely decorative delights were carefully cultivated in Zentsuji in Kagawa prefecture. Cubed fruits might seem more practical than spherical ones when it comes to stacking and storing, but they're harvested while unripe, so they are purely ornamental. Despite this fact, these curious fruits are sold at a premium, for around 90 USD or more. While some might view these price tags as exorbitant, they reflect the rarity and years of effort it took to refine the process of growing these perishable artworks.

But cube watermelons are far from the only sought-after luxury fruit in Japan. Some of the other wallet-busting produce you can find in Japan include the Bijin-Hime (beautiful princess) strawberry. This fruit was developed to be exceptionally large, at up to 100g per fruit, very sweet, with a vibrant, shiny red color. The standards for these strawberries are so high that remarkably few make the grade, and the price per strawberry reflects this rarity, reaching around 350 USD per strawberry at auction.

Other fruits to look out for are Ruby Roman grapes. These bunches of large, perfectly spherical fruits are exclusively grown in Ishikawa. They're known for their sweetness and low acidity. Superior bunches can sell for more than 100 USD.

White strawberries are an eye-catching fruit you can see in most supermarkets when they're in season. There are several varieties, including the White Jewel, created in Saga prefecture by cross-breeding seeds for generations and restricting the strawberries' sunlight. Another popular white strawberry variant is Hatsukoi no Kaori, meaning the scent of first love, cultivated in Yamanashi in 2006. Its pure white flesh tastes like pineapple. These strawberries are considered the most expensive in the world, with one strawberry costing upwards of 10 USD.

Food provenance is a matter of pride in Japan. Each region is synonymous with its produce, which is creatively utilized in local dishes and snacks. Aomori is known for its apples, and a trip to the prefecture isn't complete without sampling the juices and desserts made from this local specialty. Similarly, Tochigi is famous for strawberries, Fukushima is known for peaches, and grapes are a delicacy in Yamagata.

In addition to the superior quality of Japanese fruits, there is pride in the sheer variety available. For example, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, there are 312 varieties of strawberries in the country - enough to keep even the most discerning connoisseurs sated.

Similarly, citrus fruits are abundant. Keen foodies may know yuzu, an aromatic citrus used in everything from sauce, cakes, cocktails, and tea. There are also dozens of other regionally specific citrus varieties to discover, such as Okinawa's shikuwasa, a small and sour citrus fruit used in local dishes, and jabara, a natural hybrid of yuzu and kunenbo mandarin. Jabara was discovered in Kitayama in Wakayama and was registered as a new fruit in 1979. Its sour flavor means it is best used in jams, sauces, candies, and juices. The hyper-locality of these fruits and the products they're used in making them popular souvenirs for tourists.

Some fruits have been developed in such a particular way, placed inside shaped molds as they grow, manually pollinated, massaged, or grown one fruit per branch to maximize the nutrients it receives. Some fruit farmers have such particular cultivation methods that they are the only farms producing them. In Japan, the appreciation for fruit is not merely about consumption; it's a celebration of artistry, the seasons, dedication, and tradition. The prices attached to these fruits are a reflection of the meticulous cultivation methods, cultural significance, and the desire to produce something exceptional.