Sample Village Iwasaki

Sample Village Iwasaki is a food sample workshop and shop at 250 Hachimancho Jonancho in Gujo, Gifu Prefecture, about five minutes on foot from Gujo Hachiman Station on the Nagaragawa Railway. It is run by Iwasaki Mokei Seizo. That company grew from the work of Takizo Iwasaki, who was born in Gujo Hachiman and first commercialised food samples in Japan. As a child he watched drops of candle wax fall into water and form white shapes like plum blossoms. In 1931 he encountered a food model made as a teaching aid. After many failed prototypes he produced a detailed rice omelet he named the commemorative omelet. In 1932 he founded Iwasaki Seisakujo in Osaka and spread the samples nationwide, helped by a lending system for restaurant displays. In 1955 he opened a factory in Gujo Hachiman as a contribution to his hometown. It was renamed Iwasaki Mokei Seizo in 1963. Craftsmen trained there later formed their own companies, and the town became a centre of the trade, known as the town of food samples. The company describes its aim as samples that look more real than the real thing by capturing the moment a dish looks ready to eat. Visitors make their own tempura or sushi samples, or a bowl of shaved ice. Exhibits include a giant pizza, and the shop sells magnets and accessories shaped like food. A second shop trades in the centre of the town, a short walk from the river.