"It's taken me 15 years to reach this level of perfection."
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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.
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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.
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"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.
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In southwest Japan last year, a supermarket paid 1.1 million yen ($9,700) for a first-harvest bunch of "Ruby Roman" at auction.
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Holding just 30 grapes in total, that record-breaking bunch essentially sold for $320 per grape.
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So why are Japanese consumers willing to pay so much for their fruit?
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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.
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For this reason, high-end fruit has come to be viewed as an important symbol of respect.
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"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.
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For some consumers, a high price tag adds prestige and signifies quality.
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Although not all Japanese consumers buy expensive fruit to gift -- many appreciate its rarefied taste.
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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.
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