壕! 日本水果走出奢侈品路線

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.

東京任意一家千疋屋門店的外部裝潢都很高檔，看起來像是珠寶店，但往明亮的玻璃櫥窗裏一看，就會發現一種令人意外的昂貴“珍寶”。

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，這家零售店專售令人饞涎欲滴的果品，但價格高得令人心碎。

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

不過，高價售賣精心培育的水果不是千疋屋門店獨有的。

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.

在日本各地，這樣的產品在拍賣會上的售價通常爲數萬美元。2016年，兩個北海道特級甜瓜的拍賣價爲2.724萬美元，創下紀錄。

"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向CNN透露：“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，水果被視爲奢侈品，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".

奧田日郎種植的美姬草莓備受讚譽，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.

物以稀爲貴也是日本“羅馬紅寶石”葡萄的種植者採取的策略，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。”

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

那麼，爲什麼日本消費者願意花這麼多錢買水果呢？

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，人們認爲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，他們定期在家裏的供桌和佛壇上爲神仙上供水果。

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

因此，高端水果已被視爲表示尊重的重要象徵。

"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：“人們爲特殊的場合或社交上重要的人物，比如你的老闆，購買這些昂貴的水果，以證明他們送人的禮物有多麼特別。”

For some consumers, a high price tag adds prestige and signifies quality.

對於一些消費者來說，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爲禮物，但是很多人喜歡它們罕見的口感。