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I was in Japan a month ago and these are everywhere! Pretty much every where I went (esp in Tokyo), they're in front of the restaurant. After awhile, you'll no

I was in Japan a month ago and these are everywhere! Pretty much every where I went (esp in Tokyo), they're in front of the restaurant. After awhile, you'll notice they don't vary too much one to the other. But it's still a fascinating UX. I'm used to looking up photos on Yelp and yet I still found myself looking closely at...plastic!

vibrolax 9y ago
If you visit Tokyo again, you can buy fake food samples in a number of shops on Kappabashi street. https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3020.html https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3020.html
stefan_ 9y ago
Even for fast food: https://youtu.be/uwwmKcFVji8?t=10m28s https://youtu.be/uwwmKcFVji8?t=10m28s
- pimlottc 9y ago
  Thanks for the link, fascinating documentary!
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
stevenwoo 9y ago
I thought the examples were real near San Jose, but I guess the stuff is almost ubiquitous in Japanese markets/restaurants.
hkmurakami 9y ago
It's basically the equivalent of clothed mannequin displays for boutiques and shops. People are window shopping a lot of Japan for their food options, oweing to the very high walkability, density of shops esp inside department stores and airports and the like, and high overall average quality of shops where very rarely will you have a terrible experience, making people more willing to step into ships with very little prior vetting. So when your customers are window shopping, these serve to tempt and posture their interest to step foot in the store. When you see the udon bowl you might think "oh I didn't realize it until now, but I'm in the mood for udon today".
- sdrothrock 9y ago
  > making people more willing to step into shops with very little prior vetting After eleven years in Japan, it works the other way around for me too; if there are no plastic samples out front, I'll just mentally dismiss restaurant and keep looking for somewhere else. Even the restaurants that can't afford plastic samples for whatever reason will often make popular/common dishes and just saran wrap them to put them outside to show what's on the menu.
odiroot 9y ago
I also saw this a lot in China which spawned an idea for a game -- "is this real or plastic?"

vibrolax 9y ago

If you visit Tokyo again, you can buy fake food samples in a number of shops on Kappabashi street. https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3020.html https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3020.html

stefan_ 9y ago

Even for fast food: https://youtu.be/uwwmKcFVji8?t=10m28s https://youtu.be/uwwmKcFVji8?t=10m28s

pimlottc 9y ago
Thanks for the link, fascinating documentary!

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

stevenwoo 9y ago

I thought the examples were real near San Jose, but I guess the stuff is almost ubiquitous in Japanese markets/restaurants.

hkmurakami 9y ago

It's basically the equivalent of clothed mannequin displays for boutiques and shops. People are window shopping a lot of Japan for their food options, oweing to the very high walkability, density of shops esp inside department stores and airports and the like, and high overall average quality of shops where very rarely will you have a terrible experience, making people more willing to step into ships with very little prior vetting. So when your customers are window shopping, these serve to tempt and posture their interest to step foot in the store. When you see the udon bowl you might think "oh I didn't realize it until now, but I'm in the mood for udon today".

sdrothrock 9y ago
> making people more willing to step into shops with very little prior vetting After eleven years in Japan, it works the other way around for me too; if there are no plastic samples out front, I'll just mentally dismiss restaurant and keep looking for somewhere else. Even the restaurants that can't afford plastic samples for whatever reason will often make popular/common dishes and just saran wrap them to put them outside to show what's on the menu.

odiroot 9y ago

I also saw this a lot in China which spawned an idea for a game -- "is this real or plastic?"