TOKYO: This week, an exhibition in Tokyo featured the odd plastic food sculptures created by Japanese artists. These sculptures included the “leaning tower of pizza,” a fish that cut itself into pieces and cooked itself, and a dragon that appeared from a dragon fruit.
The replicas, known as “shokuhin sampuru,” or “sample food goods,” were built with the same meticulous detail as the rock-solid noodle soups and crispy-looking plastic nibbles that have long been exhibited outside Japanese eateries.
One hundred years after businesses started using wax figures to promote their food to a burgeoning middle class, sampuru are typical outside ramen shops and family eateries all around Japan.”Normally, we have to carry out the clients’ instructions.
When we create goods, we consider their opinions “Shinichiro Hatasa, a 57-year-old plastic food artist, said.But when coming up with creative designs, “You may conjure up ideas. It’s entirely up to you how it turns out “said he.
Other works on exhibit included a chicken Tetris game and a deep-fried shrimp with four breaded legs that was wandering about like a tiger on a mound of shredded cabbage.
