Food Replica
Food replicas
or food models are widely used in Japan and it has a strict guideline to resemble the real food as much as possible. A number of food replicas look so real that foreigners visiting Japan usually stop by and want to touch, have a look, or take a picture of the display. Whenever you have the chance to see one of these samples in real life, absolutely do not eat it. If you do, you will get an upset stomach.
There are also some cases when real food are used for display instead of a food replica.
I once experienced this myself when I thought it was a food model of a fish.
Out of curiosity, I pressed the model with my finger and it turns out to be an actual fish being displayed outside the shop!
