Japanese Plastic Food

In my travels sometimes I run into something so fantastic I have to mention it here. While walking through Tokyo I noticed most of the restaurants have food sitting out front with little price signs sitting in front. It looks good and gives you an idea of what is on the restaurant menu. But the interesting thing is that the food is made of plastic. All sorts of food, from soup, to shrimp, to noodles, to pizza. All looks so real that you have to look carefully to distinguish as fake.
I noticed plastic food all over the place. It was at the airport restaurants, small little cafes, even large formal restaurants. I liked it as it gives a quick easy way to see how much food you get at what price. I have not seen anything like it anywhere else in the world. It seems like a good idea, but perhaps the complication is that you need some very talented artists to produce this food.