One kind of food that is particularly easy to find in Japan is the fake kind. We saw food made of fabric, of plastics, of resin and of foam, food designed to hang from your cellphone, sit in your shop window, stick to your fridge, and adorn your apartment or your person. There were fake foods with no purpose at all, like these miniature traditional food sets, which come, like a wide array of tiny Japanese toys, in unmarked boxes so that which set you end up with is a surprise.

Professional restaurant supply shops in Asakusa, in Tokyo, can create any dish with remarkable realism, for a price. Most restaurants in Japan have made the investment in a full set for their front display case. While, as a traveler, I have found these models to be incredibly helpful, as a customer, I can't help but find them a little tacky, no matter how realistic they are. For some reason other fake foods don't bother me, in fact, I find them delightful as charms or ornaments. Then again, I can't stomach (sorry) fake food earrings! I am fickle, but luckily, Japan supplies fake food for every taste (again, sorry).

There are even kits to make your own fake pastries using plastic cream in a tube. You can make a cellphone charm, or, cut out the middleman and decorate the phone itself. I have to admit, if it hadn't been for the hefty price tag on these treats, I might be carrying a slightly sweeter cellphone right now. Instead, I settled for these little trinkets: