Almost every restaurant in Japan, even the fancy ones, display
their menus visually with plates of food under glass outside the entrance. A
box (or wall) of delights everywhere you go. On closer inspection, all these
plates of very realistic glistening food are plastic, commissioned to order,
handmade and full of detail. No slapdash generic mockups here.
Apparently it
all started in the 1920s before written menus were common in Japan. I think this
was also the start of emojis, another example of Japan’s love of communicating via appealing
visuals.
You can buy plastic food in gift shops but they are more expensive than
buying the real food. One small piece of plastic sushi is over $10 so a restaurant
makes a significant investment to commission reproductions of all its menu
items. These photos give you an idea of the symphony of plastic food awaiting you. Play on!
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