It looks like a jewelry shop with its high-end exterior. But a peek inside the sparkling glass display cases at any of Sembikiya's Tokyo outlets reveals expensive treasures of a surprising kind.

    From heart-shaped watermelons to "Ruby Roman" grapes, which are the size of a ping pong ball, this retailer specializes in selling mouth-watering produce at eye-watering prices.

    Expensive, carefully-cultivated fruit, however, is not unique to Sembikiya's stores.

    Across Japan, such products regularly sell for tens of thousands of dollars at auction. In 2016, a pair of premium Hokkaido cantaloupe sold for a record US$27,240.

    "Fruits are treated differently in Asian culture and in Japanese society especially," Soyeon Shim, dean of the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, tells CNN. "Fruit purchase and consumption are tied to social and cultural practices.

    "It is not only an important part of their diet, but, perhaps more importantly, fruit is considered a luxury item and plays an important and elaborate ritual part in Japan's extensive gift-giving practices."

    Cultivating high-end produce usually involves meticulous, labor-intensive practices developed by Japanese farmers.

    "It's hard getting the shape of these strawberries right - they can sometimes turn out like globes," says Okuda Nichio, of his highly-prized Bijin-hime (beautiful princess) strawberries, which he tries to grow "scoop-shaped."

    "It's taken me 15 years to reach this level of perfection."

    His largest tennis-ball sized strawberries, of which he only produces around 500 a year, usually sell for more than 500,000 yen (US$4,395) each.

    So why are Japanese consumers willing to pay so much for their fruit?

    Whereas in many Western cultures apples and oranges are prized for their nutritional value, the Japanese see fruit in almost spiritual terms, regularly offering it to the gods on their butsudan - or home altars - and Buddhist steps.

    For this reason, high-end fruit has come to be viewed as an important symbol of respect.

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

    优质的

    yōuzhì de

    premium

    of superior quality or value

    小心翼翼的

    xiǎoxīn yìyì de

    meticulous

    taking or showing extreme care about minute details, precise, thorough

    揭秘日本奢侈水果文化

    东京千疋屋水果行店面高档，看起来像是珠宝行。但是透过任意一家千疋屋闪闪发亮的玻璃橱窗，你看到的都是让你出乎意料的宝贝。

    从心形西瓜到乒乓球大小的“罗马红宝石”葡萄，这家零售店专门销售口感美味但贵到离谱的农产品。

    不过，这样价格昂贵、精心培育的水果并非是千疋屋水果行独有的。

    在日本各地，此类农产品经常在拍卖会上以数万美元的价格卖出。2016年，一对优质的北海道哈密瓜售价创下了27240美元的纪录。

    威斯康辛麦迪逊大学人类生态学院院长沈素妍告诉CNN,“在亚洲文化中，特别是日本社会，水果是受到特殊对待的。购买和消费水果与社会文化风俗相关。”

    “这不仅仅是日本人饮食的重要组成部分，或许更重要的是，水果被视为奢侈品，在日本普遍存在的送礼习俗中是一种重要且考究的礼节。”

    日本果农通常要花费大量时间、精心照料才能培育出这些高端农产品。

    Okuda Nichio种植的美姬草莓备受赞誉，他试图把这种草莓培育成“勺形”。他说：“要想获得这种形状的草莓非常难——有时候它们会长成球形。”

    “我花了15年才做到这种完美的水平。”

    他培育的美姬草莓最大有网球大小，每年只产500颗左右，单价超过50万日元（4395美元）。

    那么，为什么日本消费者愿意花这么多钱买水果呢？

    在西方文化中，人们认为苹果桔子非常有营养价值，而日本人几乎是从精神层面来看待水果的，他们定期在家里的供桌和佛坛上为神仙上供水果。

    因此，高端水果已被视为表示尊重的重要象征。