Despite being considered a healthy model to follow, the Japanese diet can often lack fruits, as they are almost a luxury food.
That may explain why one can find strange fruit presentations, such as bananas wrapped in plastic and with drawings of Hello Kitty; lemons and limes packaged as luxury items or, in general, why everything is packaged. It's worth noting that this happens at a time when Europe and other areas are increasingly working to avoid packaging and plastics.
The fruit in Japan has somewhat of a ceremonial use. In fact, it is usual to give fruit baskets as a symbol of gratitude or status. Which isn't surprising considering its price.
However, the most surprising thing is their famous square watermelons, which created worldwide headlines about a year ago. Finding them amusing from a distance is one thing, seeing them in front of a supermarket in Tokyo and realizing they cost 20,000 yen is another.
That's almost 160 euro for a square watermelon. There are different stories about the origins of this square fruit, although most point to storage and transport reasons to explain the invention. The method is quite simple -producers place the watermelon inside a cube-shaped mould in its last stages of growth so that it adapts to that shape.
What began as an idea to optimize transport space became an eccentric luxury product that people give as gifts.
Something similar happens with the Hokkaido melon. It is a much-loved variety and each year consumers pay outrageous prices for especially large sizes. It's like the cheese auction that takes place in Europe, but with melons.
In addition, these melons are sold as Godzilla eggs, and placed within wooden boxes filled with straw, to simulate the monster's nest. We were unable to find out their price, but can assume that it'll cost around the same as a square watermelon.
Source: 20 minutos