In East Asia, restaurants don’t simply display what’s on offer by posting a menu outside. Instead, each restaurant has its own glass display case filled with fake versions of the food the restaurant sells, so hungry passersby can do their own version of window shopping.
What’s even more interesting: A vast majority of the fake food in Japan’s restaurants comes from one place and one place only: Gujo. The historical and ancient town is known for being the center of the artificial food industry. There, artists and designers create everything from fake ramen to fake rice balls to fake sushi — and yes, it’s just as cool as you might think.
Here’s a small sampling of what these incredible artists in Gujo can do. It’s amazing how real these dishes look.
To learn more about this fascinating place and the people who bring plastic food to life in Japan, check out the video below.
Next, 30 fascinating facts about Japan.
Sources: Great Big Story, Sploid