Apples from Kobe In front of the Zhongjia store

In the cardboard boxes stacked high are large apples imported from Japan. This is the Zhongjia branch store of Kobe apples located in Chiayi during the colonial period. The adults and children in front of the store are very well dressed, indicating that this is a rather profitable business. So who were the intended buyers of these apples?
In the movie “The Taste of Apples,” a laborer is in a car accident which leads to his being able to taste the magnificent flavor of an imported apple. Such was life during the 1950s in Taiwan. (The price of an apple at the time was the equivalent of four pounds of rice!) Life in the colonial period was even worse, as most Taiwanese could not even afford rice. As one could imagine, these mouth-watering apples were headed for none other than the homes of rich merchants and high officials.