This is a melon. In a supermarket. For roughly $115 American dollars.

It's the norm to give fruits as gifts here in Japan. My Japanese colleagues and Mat and my Japanese friends present tangerines, apple pears, strawberries, persimmons and other fruits as "thank you" gifts, souvenirs from travel and especially when dining at our house instead of the American standard--a bottle of wine or flowers. You're probably wondering "well, does it at least taste as much as it costs?" Most of the time, yeah. The grapes from Katsunuma for example, taste amazing and don't come cheap. Japanese apple pears come individually wrapped in Styrofoam netting and, at five dollars or more a piece, will pour juice down your arm after the first bite. Nobody has bought me a hundred dollar mellon yet but if you plan to--don't. Buy me a premium bottle of sake will ya?!?