Is this taking Excess to extremes ???
Bunch of grapes sells for £475
A single bunch of grapes has been sold for (100,000 yen) at an auction in Japan.
A hotel manager paid about £14 for each grape in the 1 1/2 pound bunch of Ruby Romans, a newly developed variety.
"We believe the price was probably a record high," said Hirofumi Isu, a local agriculture official. "They're delicious — sweet but fresh at the same time, very well balanced."
The tomato-colored grapes made their debut at an auction in Japan's northwestern Ishikawa prefecture, where they have been under development since 1994 in a state-led project.
The bunch that fetched the top price had about 35 grapes, each slightly smaller than a pingpong ball, Isu said.
The average price for the Ruby Roman grapes at Monday's auction was about 27,000 yen a bunch.
Isu said local farmers hope to sell 1,500 bunches, or 1 ton, of the grapes by mid-September.
Fruit is generally expensive in Japan, and people often buy grapes, peaches and melons as luxury gifts. Japanese are often willing to pay top prices for high-end fruits, especially for the prestige of owning the very first ones of the year.
The Ruby Roman prices far exceeded those for the most popular premium variety, Muscat of Alexandria, which sell for as much as US$90 (10,000 yen) a bunch at Tokyo's Ota fruit market, the country's largest, according to Koichi Kato, an official at fruit wholesaler Tokyo Seika Co.
"It could be a congratulatory price for its debut," Mr Kato added. "Tokyo's largest fruit market is very competitive."
janeyjaney when I say materialistic I dont mean fake at all. I just mean they like their shopping, especially luxury goods. I have a really close pal who is Ghanaian- Japanese (I know weird huh) and she would drag me everywhere to shop. But heart of gold. As were the rest. LOL I laugh when I recall hanging out with them.
"Quit hanging on to the handrails . . . Let go. Surrender. Go for the ride of your life. Do it every day." Melody Beattie
Labda.. I've met a few Japanese girls when I was in high school (some exchange student thing). They're actually genuine and not at all materialistic! Highly creative and generally really really nice people.
LOL Maybe it's that easy for them to make money hence, they spend it like mad!
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The Japanese have to be brand mad...now that we have brand grapes, I really will not be shocked as to what else they'll buy into.
I like the Japanese, go to any city in this world et voila, there's a Japenese, clicking away on his camera. I am yet to meet one I dont like, they are nice, funny people. But most are MATERIALISTIC as he77.
"Quit hanging on to the handrails . . . Let go. Surrender. Go for the ride of your life. Do it every day." Melody Beattie
you certainly learn something new every day on here :)
Those grapes, they will be gone in a few moments, all that money!!!!
I'll take a dozen in different colours..
you are missing the point....
exactly they are not washed...
Hope the underpants are washed first..
I prefer the Geisha and the bathing in a barrel...
Truly a strange place.
Everyone loves the Japanese, because while they may be a bit strange, they are the coolest, funkiest people on the planet!
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Japan has it's own strange weirdness...but people around the world love it. Dunno why. Japan's a fan of the world...but in turn the world also is a fan of Japan.
Must be the aftereffects of the atomic bomb...XP
"Everything in this book may be wrong." Illusions: The Adventures of The Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach
Yuppers. The Jap's are a bit strange.
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And who sell used girls underpants in vending machines in the subway.
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Well I was coming from Korea so I noticed right away how much higher the costs were. I think the only place I've been that was more expensive was the UK.
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I said 'reasonably' cheap.... it wasn't the cheapest place I've been. That would have been a remote island in Vanuatu where there was no water or electricity and we ate pig cooked directly on a fire...
But after having friends warn me over and over about how expensive Japan would be, I was surprised at how little the 2 weeks cost. Mind you we ate in local noodle bars and stayed in cheap local hotels.
How can you resist a country that has beer vending machines in the hotel corridors?
Every year in Oz they auction of the first box of that years cherries from Young in NSW around the beginning of November..it usually fetches any where between AUD$10,000 - AUD$ 20,000..The money goes to charity...
"Your born, You Live, You Die, given this premise, one can conclude since we have no control over when we are born and when we die, the only thing that matters to us should be how we live, simple really?" Mis-Cat to her philosophy Lecturer.
You found Japan cheap!?! I found it to be one of the most expensive places I'd ever been!
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would take a few days off..
Lets hope it pans out..
Good idea, pack some grapes with, you just incase you want to impress.
Cheers!
I was in Japan earlier this year and found it to be a reasonably cheap place to holiday. But then I didn't go to the fruit market!
Which cities are you going to, Britexpat?
Thanks for the info..
I'll be vacationing in Japan next new years and will take a suitcase load of Cherries, kumquat and grape fruits.. i'll take the grapes as carry on..
Hardly. Gulf Arabs still win hands down in the disgusting excess stakes.
I'll never look at grapes the same ever again. I will cherish every single bite...
In all seriousness, Asian history & culture deems the Grape in particular the fruit of kings. For New Years especially Asians will pay top dollar for all "circular" fruits i.e oranges, kiwis, mangostins as it is said that all things circular at home will bring wealth and prosperity for the year to come.
But who [ in their right mind] paid $25mil for alicense plate?
lol gypsy.....u said it..
At least they can eat that grapes
Excessive yes, but still not $25 million for a license plate.
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