ent on sale on 2 May in Tokyo. These special bananas even had serial numbers. Dole released the premium bananas at Takashimaya Department Store in Shinjuku, Japan, 2 May. The bananas were priced at 590 yen ($5.80) each, packaged in a special box, and sported a serial number on the skin. Only 59 went on sale, and were offered for that day only.
What's with the number 59? The name of these bananas is "Gokusen" (極撰), with the character for "goku" (極) referring to "extreme" or "culmination," and the character for "sen" (撰) referring to "compilation." Since today is May 9 (5/9), the event is a Japanese pun: the number five is "go" (五), while the number nine is "ku" (九).
Launching in 2009, the Gokusen banana has been on sale for a while now. It is Dole Japan's most delicious and fragrant banana. They were developed by researching and singling out the best features of over a hundred other bananas. As Marusho-Iizuka notes, the bananas are cultivated in the Philippines at over 500 meters above sea level.
These limited edition Gokusen bananas that went on sale today are the best of the best, measuring and weighing in at 200 grams. Typical bananas weigh in at around 100 grams and don't cost six bucks each.
