Its all over social media these days…….the $19 Japanese strawberry being sold at upscale grocer Erewhon in Los Angeles. Japan is no stranger to high priced fruits. When we are traveling throughout the country, we often seen $10, $20 and $30 melons and such. I recall seeing something on my first visit to Japan with Josephine many years ago, and seeing it again last summer.
As we drove through the fruit producing region around Nagano, the clusters of grapes, and individual pears and apples in the orchards were individually wrapped in cloth! Every one on every vine and tree! Simply incomprehensible to consider the man hours it takes to put them on and take them off. All of this is done to prevent the birds from chowing down on the fruit as well as a preventative such that they don’t have to use pesticides. But this only adds to the cost of the final product, so it is no surprise to sometimes see such high fruit prices in the stores.
But $19 for ONE strawberry? Influencers have been quick to jump on this story (as have we) with them tasting the fruit and commenting. Everyone loves the taste and says its beyond any they’ve ever had. But is it worth $19? That’s a matter of opinion, largely affected by one’s bank account. But we’re more interested in what will a handful of these strawberries purchase in Japan.
So we just uploaded a video that shows three things ten strawberries will get you in Japan: tickets to the popular TeamLab Borderless and Planets; a one hour private cruise on the Tokyo Water Taxi; a night in a luxurious hotel in Osaka. So click here to watch our video on the trending topic and let us know if you would spend $19 on one strawberry or rather invest it in something with a more lasting experience.