It looks mouthwatering, but you can't actually eat it.

看起來令人食指大動，但你其實沒辦法吃它們。

It's all fake.

因為這些全是假的。

These deceptive dishes are called sampuru, from the word "sample."

這些假的菜餚叫做 sampuru，來自 sample (樣本) 一詞。

The fake foods are made of plastic, and to this day each one is crafted by hand.

假食物是塑膠製的，而且時至今日仍然出自手工。

Food samples give a 3D picture of what the foods look like.

食物模型能夠立體地展現食物的樣貌。

This, along with the historical background of artificial food samples, has allowed them to become widespread.

基於這點，以及人工食物模型的歷史背景，使得它們廣為流行。

Sampuru is so lucrative, the industry is estimated to be worth $90 million in Japan alone.

食物模型非常有利可圖，據估計這項產業光是在日本就價值九千萬美金。

But let's take a step back and see how they make plastic look good enough to eat.

但我們先別說那麼遠，先來看看他們是如何將塑膠做得看起來很好吃。

At the Morino Sample Workshop in Osaka, artisans have been making sampuru for 45 years.

在位於大阪的 Morino 食物樣品工作坊中，工匠 45 年來持續製作著食物模型。

Fourteen artisans make all of the food samples shipped worldwide for the company Fake Food Japan.

十四位工匠替日本假食物公司製作運往世界各地的食物模型。

They specialize in sushi, tempura, and ramen, but they can custom-make just about anything you can dream up.

他們擅長製作壽司、天婦羅和拉麵，不過他們也提供客製化服務，任何你想得到的都行。

Beer, ice cream, pizza, burgers.

啤酒、冰淇淋、披薩、漢堡。

To craft sample food, first the artisans have to get a mold of the real thing.

製作食物樣品的第一步，工匠必須先拿到實物的模板。

Usually, that means a restaurant will have to freeze the real food and ship it to the workshop.

那通常代表餐廳要先將真的食物冷凍，然後寄到工作坊。

Casting molds from real foods allows us to copy the fine bumps and depressions along the food's surface.

用真的食物製模讓我們能夠複製出食物表面精細的突起和凹陷。

We then color the molds in order to bring out realistic food textures.

然後我們會替模子上色，好帶出寫實的食物質感。

Once they've got a mold, it's filled with liquid PVC plastic and baked up to 338 degrees.

一旦有了模具，他們會用液態聚氯乙烯塑料填充，然後用 170 度高溫烘烤。

The sample is brought to life with airbrushing and paint, and finally it's plated.

樣品經過噴漆和彩繪後栩栩如生，最後就可以裝盤了。

Some smaller models can take a day to make, while entire entrees can take up to a week.

一些小一點的模型要花上一天的功夫，而一整道菜則可能花上一禮拜。

Making this udon noodle sample involves getting the ingredients together and making a mold, depending on the sample and takes about three days.

製作這碗烏龍麵模型需要把許多種食材拿去打模，取決於模型本身，要花上大約三天。

But if you're doing all of this work for every sample, it's very time-consuming.

若是每一個模型都要走這些程序，那會非常耗時。

For common items like udon, meat, etc., I prepare all of these ingredients in advance.

一些像是烏龍麵、肉類等等常見的部件，我會事先做好。

This lets me speed up the work.

這能夠讓我提升工作效率。

Because of the detail in each food sample, artisans say it takes up to 10 years to perfect the craft.

因為每一樣食品模型都需要許多細節，工匠說手藝要臻至完美需要花上十年。

But don't be fooled, while they might look like affordable eats, sampuru will set you back a pretty penny.

但可別被迷惑了，它們看起來或許像是很便宜的食物，卻要價不菲。

These imitations can cost up to 10 times the real food they represent.

這些仿造食物可能是真實食物的十倍價格。

This mug of beer costs $74, a bowl of ramen costs 109, and an intricate tray of sushi will set you back a whopping $511.

這杯啤酒要價美金 74 元 (約台幣 2275)，一碗拉麵 109 元 (約台幣 3351)，一盤製工精細的壽司則會讓你噴 511 元 (約台幣 15711)。

The level of difficulty in reproducing it: that is solely the cost.

之所以那麼貴，是因為仿造起來非常困難。

Just based on the fact that the ingredients and the way it's presented just creates so much more and a level of difficulty for the artist to reproduce it.

光是模型本身和它呈現出來的樣子就帶來了許多效益，更不用說工匠仿造的工藝難度。

It's said that fake food production began in the 1930s with Takizo Iwasaki, an artisan from Gujo Hachiman.

據傳食物模型製作始於 1930 年代，一位來自郡上八幡的工匠 Takizo Iwasaki。

The story goes, he made an omelet out of wax that was so realistic his wife couldn't tell it apart from the real thing.

故事是說他用蠟做了一個逼真的蛋卷，逼真到他的太太無法分辨出是真的還是假的。

He would go on to start one of the biggest plastic food manufacturers in Japan, that now controls an estimated 60% of the fake food market.

他接著成立了日本其中一間最大的塑膠食物製造廠，時至今日佔有六成的食物模型市場。

By the 1950s, fake food had caught a wave of popularity.

到了 1950 年代，假食物蔚為風潮。

However, what really boosted the business was during World War II, from what I've been told, when a lot of the American servicemen were stationed here.

我聽說的是，這項產業之所以開始蓬勃發展，是因為二戰期間在當地駐扎了許多美國軍官。

And they couldn't, obviously, read the Japanese menus and there weren't any photos on the menus, so then let's have a visual representation to show people what we actually have on our menu.

他們很顯然讀不懂日文菜單，菜單上也沒有任何照片，於是商家決定將菜品實體化呈現。

Today, even in an era of online menus, food blogs, and Yelp reviews, these plastic food samples aren't going anywhere.

到了今日，即使是在一個線上菜單、食物部落格和網路風評的時代，這些塑膠食物模型依然存在。

Sampuru has landed on the big screen, in classrooms, and souvenir shops, and, of course, in restaurant windows.

食物模型來到了大螢幕、教室和紀念品店，當然還有餐廳櫥窗。

As mass tourism has exploded in Japan, sampuru has served as an invaluable tool for foreigners across language barriers.

隨著日本大眾觀光快速發展，食物模型也成為了外國人跨越語言障礙的利器。

Even if they don't know any Japanese, they can just point at what they want to eat.

即使他們不懂任何日文，他們也可以用比的點餐。

It's something that's very unique to this country, something that's been around for going on now, you know, almost 100 years and it still survived.

這是這國家很獨特的一個東西，持續了近 100 年到現今依然在使用。

Its significance in Japanese culture can be seen on literally every corner, but it's the skill behind the sampuru art form that keeps us salivating.

它在日本文化中的重要性可見於大街小巷，也正是食物模型背後的手藝時時挑逗著我們的味蕾。