The Egg of the Sun

What the heck?! A mango for 30,000 yen ?? ($285)....yes, and in my local food center too (Lon Lon のデパチカ in Kichijoji).

Ah-hah! But not just any ole mango. This is a Miyazaki Mango --- otherwise known by their producers as "the egg of the sun" 太陽のタマゴ-- for better or worse. I guess this sounds more appealing in Japanese.

I thought that such fruity prices were urban myths these days, and that such kudamono extravagance ended with the bubble bursting in the late 1980s but NO! Even after all these years in Japan, I am shocked to find a piece of fruit from Miyazaki prefecture that surely has a shelf life of no more than a few days, for the same amount of money that some people earn in a year? Insane.

My disbelief (okay, maybe I've had my head stuck in the proverbial fruitarian sand) led me to google "miyazaki mango" and as half-expected, I found even more exorbitantly priced fruitiness. Last month, a pair of miyazaki mangoes sold for 200,000 yen ($1902).

Obviously if someone served it up infront of me, I'd relish the chance to try it but goddamn, it definitely makes me think...Only in Japan [are people so accepting of these kinds of prices, and view them as something amazing and special, rather than craaaaazy and bizarre].

I'm going to keep my eye out for more pricey produce...stay tuned. Wait till I find those fancy musk melons that everyone talks about...