when gas was only 31 cents

Ogura san brought a package of Japanese cherries to us yesterday and it sparked a conversation about which tastes better, Japanese cherries or American black cherries. Because the thing is you can get either variety in Japan but for some reason the ones grown in Japan are way more expensive than the American imports. So, this gift of a pint of cherries from Ogura san wasn't just like getting some fruit from someone who'd just gone to the farmers' market or anything. "How much does a basket of cherries cost in California?" my mom asked, "About 65 cents? Or 89 cents?" Admittedly produce is cheaper in California, but obviously my mom is no Alan Greenspan, and I could not help myself.
"Maybe back in 1960!"

But it's true. A basket of Japanese grown cherries, in season, can cost about ¥2,000 which is close to 20 bucks give or take some change. Of course, this totally destroys my conspiracy theory about how the Japanese government keeps foreign food products' prices high and Japanese products low in order to force culinary cultural continuity since they can't keep the population from wearing foreign clothes, watching foreign movies and listening to that durn hip hop, abandoning enka forever. Well, maybe Jero will turn that tide. Just. Kidding.