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About 100 kilograms of sakuranbo (Japanese cherries) have been stolen from an orchard in Seiro, Niigata Prefecture, police said Monday.
According to police, cherries, which were ripe for picking, were stolen from the trees sometime before 4 a.m. last Friday, Sankei Shimbun reported. Their value is estimated at around 600,000 yen, the grower said.
The grower, who works the agricultural farm with his family, said he last checked the trees on the afternoon of June 3. There are about 200 cherry trees on the farm. Only high-end Satonishiki cherries were taken from about 20-30 trees.
© Japan Today
14 Comments
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Kobe White Bar Owner
No NOT 100 kgs of Japanese cherries stolen, say it aint so..
skotmanforyou
Ah, cherries! One of the many fruits i cannot afford to buy due to its price. 6000 per kg is just ridiculous for something that ordinary people can buy in a heartbeat. In all my years in Japan i still haven't figured out why Japanese think it alright to pay a fortune for melons, watermelons, mandarins, oranges, grapes, apples, strawberries and the list goes on.
Disillusioned
Coming to a local fruit market near you soon.
kohakuebisu
One cherry is only about 5g, but they grow in bunches, not two together like the little pictures on slot machines or Pacman.
Just guessing but one van, four people, two hours?
bogva
Is this the selling price to the middle man or the grower just says the end price to boost the impact of the loss?
Especially this year the cherries are more expensive than usual - hope the prices go down a bit!
On another note I regularly see fathers buying a stack of beer and probably drink 2-3 cans (600 yen) while mothers count the pennies and usually family of 4 eat one apple or a pack of strawberries per day :(
Jason Jones
Why is fruit growing not a focus here? There has to be money in it.
commanteer
This is another reason not to buy fruits from guys selling out of roadside trucks and such. Local markets and wholesalers tend to know who the farmers are, and would be suspicious of a stranger selling cherries. So the next best way to sell them is streetside or to truck them to a distant prefecture (which would cut into profits).
stepoutsidethebox
Lol, I will never taste them either way. I think it was here just the other day that someone said in Japan they spend 12% of their income on food and in the USA its only 4%. I sure don't buy fruit with my own cash. Luckly my in-laws gives fruit from time to time and my wife gets fruit as presents a good bit. There is one exception. Every winter I buy 30kg of buntans (文旦) from Kochi. Oh my god, what an amazing fruit. One of my top 3 favorite foods.
cleo
And look at the difference in outcome.
Eating sensibly on seasonal produce, with the occasional splurge on pricey items like cherries, melons, etc., as a treat, produces a healthier, less obese, longer-living population than does stuffing one's guts with all manner of genetically-modified, hormone-enhanced, irradiated, hi-fructose corn-syrup engorged, chemically-coloured mass-produced junk food. The extra 8%, even allowing for the exorbitantly-priced, we-only-have-one-type, take-it-or-leave it rice, is well worth it.
gogogo
6000 yen a kilo means 12,000 or 15,000 a kilo at retail!
Jonathan Prin
Same happened to me those last days (maybe 30 kgs)...by birds.
Get a sheep dog.
Yubaru
Crimes like this are increasing here as the actual standards of living between the haves and have nots increases.
kohakuebisu
Vegetable consumption per capita in Japan has fallen throughout the Heisei era. With the recent price increases, I think it will have only fallen further. As a father of three, it is far too tempting to pick up a packet of something, look at the price, put it back down, and then feed the kids stodge like raamen or curry rice instead. We have above average income, but for those who don't it will only be worse.