6th August 2021
Originally the food samples were made of wax but now they are made of yes, plastic. You can see them in front of some diners or rāmen or udon shops for example.
What is the main aim of them do you think? Is the main aim to attract customers to the shop? Why did they start in Japan? Do they help the customers in Japan to feel more relaxed if the customers can almost see what they are ordering? Do people in Japan like visuals, images to explain things? Emoji is from Japan. Manga is often used to explain instructions.
Do customers in Japan feel comfortable not needing to talk too much to the staff? What do you think? Is the main aim to make the ordering process quicker? For some years some samples have had the numbers for a food ticket machine that is in the shop. The number for each dish1 is written on the label in front of the sample. After reading the number, the customers go to order the dish using the machine in the shop.
Certainly one thing that is true is that many Japanese people are good with their hands. Origami is Japanese. Miniature goods you can see on the Internet are amazing. The plastic food samples are made mostly by hand, not by machines.
The presentation of products is important and the visual impact of food dishes is also important. Part of the price people pay for many food dishes, especially more expensive ones, is for the way the food looks.
It seems there are less food samples in front of restaurants than in the past but as takeaways increase, partly due to reasons such as Covid 19, food samples at the door can help customers choose what they want to buy before they enter the restaurant. Will they increase in the future as people speak to each other less? Will they be replaced by wooden ones as the plastic problem in the world increases?
What do you think about these very realistic plastic food samples?
1.`Dishes´
<Example sentences>
■ How much is this dish?
■ We had the same dish.
■ Do you have any vegetarian dishes?
■ When you think of food samples what food do you think of?
■ In restaurants with ticket machines, can you order without the machines?
■ Do you think food samples are useful?
■ Have you ever made models or miniature things before?
■ There are miniature food samples sold as phone straps, bag straps, souvenirs. ~ .