在日本有這樣一種商店，乍一看“高大上”的櫥窗讓你以為它是一家珠寶店。仔細一看，才發現，原來那些亮麗的“珠寶”竟然是水果。但再一看價牌上掛著好幾個零的標價，你又發現，其實管這些水果叫“珠寶”也不為過。“奢侈水果”文化在日本相當流行，原因究竟是什么呢？一起來看一下吧。

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.
東京千疋屋水果行店面高檔，看起來像是珠寶行。但是透過任意一家千疋屋閃閃發亮的玻璃櫥窗，你看到的都是意料之外的珍品。

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.
從心形西瓜到乒乓球大小的“羅馬紅寶石”葡萄，這家零售店專門銷售口感美味但貴到離譜的農產品。

Expensive, carefully-cultivated fruit, however, is not unique to Sembikiya's stores.
不過，這樣價格昂貴、精心培育的水果并非是千疋屋水果行獨有的。

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 $27,240 (3 million yen).
在日本各地，此類農產品經常在拍賣會上以數萬美元的價格賣出。2016年，一對優質的北海道哈密瓜售價創下了27240美元（約合人民幣18.7萬元）的紀錄。

這些水果不僅在日本本土受到追捧，近年來已經遠銷世界各地。比如，香港連鎖超市超生活在今年情人節就推出了單價約150元人民幣一顆的“天價草莓”。再比如，在莫斯科一家連鎖商店內，由日本培育的方形西瓜的價格高達860美元（約合人民幣5300元），是普通西瓜價格的300倍。

"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.
威斯康辛麥迪遜大學人類生態學院院長沈素妍告訴CNN,“在亞洲文化中，特別是日本社會，水果是受到特殊對待的。購買和消費水果與社會文化風俗相關。”

"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."
“這不僅僅是日本人飲食的重要組成部分，或許更重要的是，水果被視為奢侈品，在日本普遍存在的送禮習俗中是一種重要且考究的禮節。”

Cultivating high-end produce usually involves meticulous, labor-intensive practices developed by Japanese farmers.
日本果農通常要花費大量時間、精心照料才能培育出這些高端農產品。

"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".
Okuda Nichio種植的美姬草莓備受贊譽，他試圖把這種草莓培育成“勺形”。他說：“要想獲得這種形狀的草莓非常難——有時候它們會變成球形。”

"It's taken me 15 years to reach this level of perfection."
“我花了15年才做到這種完美的水平。”

His largest tennis-ball sized strawberries, of which he only produces around 500 a year, usually sell for more than 500,000 yen($4,395) each.
他培育的美姬草莓最大有網球大小，每年只產500顆左右，單價超過4395美元（約合人民幣3萬元）。

Rarity is a tactic also employed by the producers of Japan's "Ruby Roman" grapes, who offer just 2,400 bunches of the large red fruit each year.
物以稀為貴也是日本“羅馬紅寶石”葡萄的種植者采取的策略，這種葡萄每年只產出2400串。

"These grapes look big and red - like a ruby. It's been a painstaking process to achieve that red color," Ruby Roman spokesman Hirano Keisuke says.
“羅馬紅寶石”發言人平野奎介說：“這種葡萄看起來又大又紅——像紅寶石一樣。實現這種紅色的過程很難。”

In southwest Japan last year, a supermarket paid 1.1 million yen ($9,700) for a first-harvest bunch of "Ruby Roman" at auction.
去年，日本西南部的一家超市以9700美元（約合人民幣6.7萬元）在拍賣會上購買了首串成熟的“羅馬紅寶石”。

Holding just 30 grapes in total, that record-breaking bunch essentially sold for $320 per grape.
這串售價創紀錄的葡萄總共只有30粒，每粒約為320美元（約合人民幣2200元）。

So why are Japanese consumers willing to pay so much for their fruit?
那么，為什么日本消費者愿意花這么多錢買水果呢？

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.
在西方文化中，人們認為蘋果桔子非常有營養價值，而日本人幾乎是從精神層面來看待水果的，他們定期在家里的供桌和佛壇上為神仙上供水果。

For this reason, high-end fruit has come to be viewed as an important symbol of respect.
因此，高端水果已被視為表示尊重的重要象征。

"People purchase these expensive fruits to demonstrate how special their gifts are to the recipients, for special occasions or for someone socially important, like your boss," says Shim, who has conducted extensive researched into Japan's luxury fruit market.
沈素妍對日本奢侈水果市場進行了廣泛的研究，她說：“人們為特殊的場合或社交上重要的人物，比如你的老板，購買這些昂貴的水果，以證明他們送人的禮物有多么特別。”

For some consumers, a high price tag adds prestige and signifies quality.
對于一些消費者來說，昂貴的價格代表聲譽和品質。

Although not all Japanese consumers buy expensive fruit to gift -- many appreciate its rarefied taste.
雖然，不是所有日本消費者都會購買昂貴的水果作為禮物，但是很多人喜歡它們罕見的口感。

But while many Japanese extol the exceptional flavors of these fruit, Cecilia Smith Fujishima, a lecturer in comparative culture at Shirayuri University in Tokyo, says it's often too sweet for her Australian-raised taste buds.
不過，盡管許多日本人對奢侈水果的獨特風味贊不絕口，但東京白百合女子大學比較文化專業的講師Cecilia Smith Fujishima表示，這種水果對她的澳大利亞味蕾來說通常都太甜了。

英文來源：CNN
翻譯&編輯：董靜
審校：yaning