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7 Aug, 2013

Restaurants’ displays of fake food are real deal for tourists | The Japan Times

Alberto Pellegrini doesn’t speak or read Japanese, a deficit that threatened to leave the Italian tourist starving in a nation famous for its gastronomic delights.

Fortunately for the hungry honeymooner, restaurants across this food-obsessed nation — where English menus range from sparse to nonexistent — often display their wares in the form of intricately made plastic replicas.

The sight of a giant hot dog slathered in condiments doesn’t faze the average Japanese restaurant patron, and these fake food parades are often so similar to the real thing that they almost dare potential customers to take a bite.

Read the rest: Restaurants’ displays of fake food are real deal for tourists | The Japan Times.