apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

These things are cute, but aren't they sort of a cliche of first time in Tokyo?

Not unless it were so obviously fake as to barely be recognizable as such, and then, probably not. I think there are some Limoges boxes at Gumps in the form of various deserts and also sushi. They do not appeal to me.

Ewwwww

i like to use real food to decorate the inside of my stomach.....fake food will just be too cruel (both to the psyche and on the organs)

... Altho, a little faux-food key chain does serve well as a reminder for feeding time.

(not that that's ever a problem.... :| )

Hm...I would have killed for awesome fake plastic food when I was five and got my used Fisher-Price kitchen. But twenty years later, it just seems silly.

reminds me of dragging the waitress outside and pointing at what i want. curse my total lack of grasp on the japanese language.

There is a certain "WTF?" quality to this post that both intrigues me and disturbs me.

That said, no...I wouldn't decorate with fake food. Though I do think the fake sushi would make great "invitations" to a sushi party.

Japanese Fake food isn't used as "Decoration"

It's placed in display windows outside restaurants to indicate what kind of dishes are offered on the menu.

zhenpoo -

Don't feel bad - the 3 written Japanese languages are very confusing, even to native speakers.

Definitely not. My cat would probably try to eat it (he chomps on EVERYTHING, food or not).

But, I have considered painting a large cake mural in my dining nook.

i want to add that I think this is inspiration for a really good april fools prank from one loving college roommate to another.

OMG, the author of this post used the first-person singular pronoun "I"! Will the editors lynch her?

Hells no. This is the kind of clutter/crap decorating that my mom does and it annoys the crap out of me.

MichaelF--shhh! Don't draw attention to it.

And yes, this post has a wonderful/ridiculous "WTF" quality that made me click on it. A discussion on fake plants might elicit a range of perspectives, but I have never seen fake food outside of a child's playroom, ever.

No....I would just get hungry every time I saw them.

Isn't this article a bit far-reaching? It smells a bit of "I'm in Tokyo and I have to write about something for AT!" I don't mean to take it out on this writer specifically, as it is something that's been bothering me about AT lately and this article just sent me over the top. There have been an awful lot of ridiculous articles that are either useless or so far-reaching. QUALITY over QUANTITY please. I don't mind fewer articles/posts per day if they are more thoughtful and informative.

One of the most confusing things about this article is the topic. So please tell me how one would "decorate" with fake food. String up some donuts and use it as a garland? Hot glue-gun a red snapper inside a frame to a wall?

Come on guys - lighten up, speaking of which - am I the only person who would pop a light bulb up the fishes bottom and stick it on a standard lamp?

i'd get the burgers and doughnuts and have the oddest Christmas tree on the block.

I like pseudodesigns' idea for Christmas decor. I also might consider a bowl of fish on the coffee table, instead of a bowl of fruit.

I would not do it, but I think you young punks should definitely try it out. Consider yourselves the plastic/wax fruit collectors of the 21st century.

That fish reminds me of a scene out of 'Trading Places' in which Dan Aykroyd stuffs a salmon into his santa suit and manges on it through his beard.

Get off my lawn.

You're funny Mlle Kate. I got a nice giggle.

You could make a hilarious necklace out of the sushi ...

I presume this was a rhetorical question.. I would LOVE to see the apartment someone who does though, can it be the next House Tour please!

Um...well, I have fake sushi on my kitchen counter. I got it 25 years ago in the fake food district of Tokyo. I was 8 years old. I still love it and it still looks brand new!!! Someone worked very hard to make it look real. I consider it a work of art.

I love the idea of a bowl of fish! Reclaiming kitsch by replacing plastic fruits and veggies with some other entirely incongruous bunch of food stuffs. Very post-modern! I'd be in, but it is way out of my price range for useless decorative crap.

My mom decorated with fake food....baskets of realistic-looking breadstuffs, fake fruit and cheese, even wine glass candles....

The FUNNY thing is that we were on welfare, food stamps, government cheese, government housing, and we REALLY DID run very low on actual food at the end of the month.

As the primary cook in the house, I'd OFTEN serve her the fake food along with whatever meager portions we were having for dinner.

I wouldn't do it for my house, then again it isn't really intended for that. But if the plastic version actually looks like the food then it can be a good menu display for a restaurant.

There's some pretty good fake food in Tokyo, but you quickly develop an eye for it if you live here. It's especially bad looking after it's been left out in front of a restaurant in a glass display case and the sun and dust get at it.

I wouldn't use it because I think it's tacky for private citizens to put in their homes, but I think it's a good way for restaurants to display the look of their dishes for potential patrons. It's especially good for people who may not be able to read the menus because they can't read the language (as is often the case for tourists in Japan).