$213 a cherry: Premium cherries fetch over $14,000 a box in first auctions of 2026 in Japan
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JA Tendo Foods, which won the top bid in Tendo, plans to sell the cherries online.
PHOTO: KYODO NEWS
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TOKYO – Premium “Sato Nishiki” cherries from the north-eastern Japan prefecture of Yamagata fetched record prices at the year’s first auctions on Jan 5, including 1.8 million yen (S$14,800) for a box at a Tokyo market, or more than 26,000 yen (S$213) per cherry.
An auction in the city of Tendo in Yamagata, Japan’s main cherry-producing prefecture, also sold a 68-cherry box for a record 1.55 million yen.
Cherries typically peak in early summer, but growers have advanced the harvest using “ultra-forced” cultivation, which chills trees to simulate winter before keeping them in greenhouses.
Deputy sales manager at JA Tendo Foods Kenichi Mannen said: “I heard management was tough this year due to unstable weather, and we want to work hard to deliver products that make customers happy.”
JA Tendo Foods, which won the top bid in Tendo, plans to sell the cherries online. KYODO NEWS
