Cherries. That is all.

As promised:

That is all.

I've told you that Japan takes its fruit seriously. Watermelons can run well over $100 each, and really any piece of produce can be labeled as a local specialty and sold for outrageous prices.

The above cherries came from a student as a gift. I'm told these are very nice cherries, as far as their origin, and thus were quite pricey. I do agree that they were flavorful and sweet, and really enjoyable!

Okay, so let's do a little more than cherries.

If you want to know how insane fruit prices can be, a new record for a bunch of grapes was set this month at an auction. Take a guess how much a bunch of grapes cost:

With 26 "Ruby Roman" grapes on the vine, each about the size of a ping pong ball, the total cost was 1,000,000 yen. That's about $8,000. More than $300 per grape.

A pair of mangoes (that's a pair - two) sold for 300,000 yen (over $1000 per mango). And a pair of Yubari melons, similar to cantaloupes, sold for 1.5 million yen. $6000 for one melon.

I love my fruit, but at those prices, I should be getting a lifetime supply! Actually, given in-season prices for grapes in America, I think only about two of those Ruby Romans would cover my entire life's purchase of grapes.

Have you ever paid premium prices for premium foods?