If I told you that you could and would buy artisanal plastic food if you owned a restaurant, souvenir shop, or even a classroom in Japan, you’d probably think I was lying.

Yet, here we are. Japan has a fake food industry worth roughly $90 million (R1,2 billion).

According to Business Insider, almost every restaurant that you’ll encounter in Japan tempts potential customers with glistening, perfectly plated, plastic food.

At the Morino Sample Workshop in Osaka, artisans have been making sampuru (fake food) for 45 years. Fourteen artisans make all of the food samples shipped worldwide for the company Fake Food Japan. They specialize in sushi, tempura, and ramen, but they can custom-make just about anything you can dream up. Beer, ice cream, pizza, burgers. To craft sample food, first the artisans have to get a mold of the real thing. Usually, that means a restaurant will have to freeze the real food and ship it to the workshop.

If you want to know more, watch on:

I guess it’s possible for anything to be big in Japan.

[source:businessinsider]