So, I found this picture on my iPhone. I took it in September at one of my neighborhood grocery stores to illustrate the price of fruit in Japan.
For instance, the red grapes on the top shelf are 850 JPY, the green grapes below are 580 JPY, the cantaloupe (or muskmelon, and my Gram would say) is 1,200 JPY (that one's a little harder to see). I didn't post this picture back in September when I took it because I decided it wasn't very interesting. Whoop-de-doo! Grapes!
Going back through my pictures, however, I'm realizing how I'm falling into the "it's normal for me, so it must be normal for everyone" trap. For instance, right now the Yen is trading at approximately 100 Yen per US Dollar (actually, its a little lower, but we'll use 100 for the sake of discussion).
Those red grapes would cost you about $8.50. Hmmmm.
That means that the muskmelon over there on the far upper left corner of the picture costs about $12. For one (1) melon. Pricey - but not shockingly so.
Wait, don't forget that box there on the top shelf - yup that's a 2,000 JPY box of green grapes. We're talking $20 for a bunch of grapes. And I didn't think the picture was interesting....I wonder if they're seedless?
3 comments:
I have a picture of Musk Melons from our trip to Japan. The prices I can see are 10,500Y, 12,600Y, and 15,750Y. Those are some pricey melons! Someone told me the pattern of the skin of the melon contributes to the price differences. -beannie
Yeah, these are pretty cheap by comparison. That's why I was reluctant to post the picture, but decided it was crazy to think that even $12 was cheap!
I know you posted this photo a while ago...I'm another Teresa in Japan and just found your blog.
I don't know if you ever got around to trying the grapes, but I can almost garuntee that 1) they're not seedless and 2) the skin is really tough. Most Japanese folks pop the skin open and eat the flesh only to have to spit out the seeds and skin...
so much work, so little fruit!
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