It’s strawberry season in Japan. I’m not sure how that can be since it’s still cold, but I think Japan developed a few kinds of greenhouse strawberries. At any rate, the country goes strawberry crazy around this time of year and stores start selling fresh strawberry-flavored snacks, cookies, candy and cakes.

I was passing by a fruit store in a department store this afternoon when a certain display caught my eye. It was a stack of huge strawberries nestled on a small styrofoam pillow in individual plastic containers. Each cost about 400 yen ($3.50 or so) — this is PER strawberry. Of course, I had to buy one (see the picture). The strawberry was about the size of a small egg and when you cut it open, it was as red inside as it was on the outside.

It was definately one of the sweetest strawberries I’ve ever had, but probably not worth 400 yen.