Many restaurant in japan display
mock-ups of their dishes in the window of the restaurant, or in a glass display cabinet. The beauty of this for the Gaijin is that you don't have to read Kanji to understand what's on offer in the restaurant. Even better, many low- to mid-range restaurants also have photos of their food on the actual menus.A story goes that it was the Gaijin who are responsible for this plastic food display in the first placeHistorically, when Westren foods were first introduced to Japan, the locals were completely dumbfounded by the descriptions on the menu. So, to smooth the introduction of new foods, and to drum up more interest and business, the restaurant owners displayed wax versions of their new Western dishes. Eventually, this changed to plastic, and encompass the entire range of foods, not just the Western ones. Plastic foods also make a unique souvenier from Japan - it's not exactly...
