The Brief

At the 49-year-old Little Tokyo restaurant Kouraku, potential diners can peruse a glass case lined with fake foods to preview what’s on the menu.

The display of shokuhin sampuru, or “sample foods,” spans half the restaurant’s East 2nd Street storefront and features life-size replicas of its most popular dishes.

A viscous brown gravy ladled atop the best-selling tenshin chahan ankake (shrimp omelette with pork fried rice) pools into a glossy moat, while the generously portioned mabo tofu includes heaps of delicate tofu cubes suspended from a serving spoon. The three-dimensional models look good enough to eat — and that’s exactly the point.

The artistic precision that goes into each replica.

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Jérémie Souteyrat

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Courtesy Japan House

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New exhibit

The tradition of shokuhin sampuru has been delighting Japanese diners and diasporic communities for over a century, and is the subject of a new exhibit at Japan House Los Angeles called “Looks Delicious!”

The exhibition, which is free to attend until Jan. 25, 2026, is the first of its kind to explore Japan’s food replica culture in the U.S., and was previously on display at Japan House London.

Eat with your eyes

Located within the Ovation Hollywood complex, Japan House Los Angeles’ bi-level campus includes an event space, gallery, library, gift shop and Michelin-starred kaiseki restaurant, Uka.

Looks Delicious! takes over the gallery, with seven distinct areas displaying different elements of shokuhin sampuru culture, from its origins, to its manufacturing and its adoption in restaurants and beyond.

A pile of juicy spaghetti covered with tomato sauce. The catch? It's all fake.

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Cathy Chaplin

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LAist

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Shokuhin sampuru first appeared in 1923 at one of Japan’s oldest department stores, Shirokiya, as a way to introduce Japanese diners to Western-style dishes (yōshoku) available in its dining hall.

Painted wax models cast from agar jelly molds enticed an unfamiliar audience to try dishes like spaghetti and hamburgers. The success of Shirokiya’s food replicas led to its widespread usage by other department stores and eventually by restaurants across Japan.

Today, well-made and prominently displayed food replicas continue to play an important role in bridging cultural and language barriers for international tourists visiting the country.

Looks Delicious! exhibition at Japan House London in 2024.

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Jeremie Souteyrat

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Courtesy Japan House

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From old-school wax to modern plastic

While wax food models were sufficient during shokuhin sampuru's earliest iterations, their limited range of textures and colors, as well as their sensitivity to heat and light, were improved upon with the introduction of silicon molds and synthetic resins in the 1970s.

Sturdier materials, coupled with skilled artisans dedicated to hand-painting foods in painstaking detail, transformed what was originally considered practical marketing tools into genuine works of hyper-realistic art.

Beyond its functional purpose, shokuhin sampuru underscores the importance of hospitality and manufacturing within Japanese culture.

“Of course, it had a business commercial intention, but it was part of the spirit to provide hospitality, to make people feel comfortable,” said Yuko Kaifu, president of Japan House Los Angeles, “and also attention to detail; we call it monozukuri.”

Japan’s deeply rooted dedication and pride to craftsmanship, continuous improvement, and innovation are at the heart of shokuhin sampuru production.

Even with the proliferation of food photos online and on social media today, many restaurants in Japan continue to commission shokuhin sampuru, providing photographs and frozen versions of dishes to manufacturers to ensure accuracy of the replicas.

It can cost up to $10,000 to render an entire menu; however, more affordably priced generic food replicas are also available to restaurants for purchase.

On the culinary map

The centerpiece of the exhibit is a bounteous collection of specially commissioned food replicas from each of Japan’s 47 prefectures.

The northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido is represented by ohaw soup, a dish of game or fish simmered with seasonal wild mountain vegetables, traditionally made by the Ainu indigenous people. The fish filets’ shiny skin and delicate scales look lifelike under the gallery’s overhead lights.

In Aichi Prefecture, a replica of ogura toast consists of a plush slice of shoku-pan (Japanese white bread) daintily topped with sweet red bean paste and a thick pat of butter. Even simple mandarin oranges from Ehime Prefecture appear pristine, their skins supple and flesh appealingly juicy.

The exhibit is organized in collaboration with the Iwasaki, a group of three companies founded in 1932 by Iwasaki Takizō that produces the bulk of Japan’s food replicas (approximately 70 percent of market share). The commissioned food replicas for the exhibit were made by Iwasaki.

Rounding out Looks Delicious! are areas dedicated to celebrating Japanese confections (wagashi) and Edo-period snacks; an interactive build-your-own bento activity using an assortment of replica ingredients; and examples of shokuhin sampuru uses beyond restaurant marketing, including nutritional education.

Long-term eviction defense funding for Los Angeles renters could soon begin to flow now that city officials have announced a break in an impasse dating back to May 2025.

L.A. City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto said Thursday she intends to sign a new $107 million contract with the Legal Aid Foundation of L.A. She said the contract — which was approved by the City Council and the mayor in April, but still awaits her approval — was “nearly finalized.”

“I am fully committed to supporting these crucial eviction defense services for our vulnerable neighbors in need,” Feldstein Soto said in a statement.

Feldstein Soto — who will not secure a second term after placing third in last month’s primary election — pledged to continue investigating the legal aid group. She has frequently criticized the nonprofit for what she sees as a lack of transparency, though L.A. Housing Department officials say the group has consistently provided accounting and caseload data to the city.

“Taxpayers deserve transparency and accountability and to know that their money is being used as intended,” Feldstein Soto said.

Barbara Schultz, a Legal Aid Foundation attorney overseeing the city-funded Stay Housed L.A. program, said both parties have been negotiating final contract details for more than a week. She said the city attorney’s announcement was encouraging.

“[Feldstein Soto] said she was going to approve the contract, so I'm very excited to hear that,” Schultz said. “Moving forward… we can continue to grow, fully implement the ‘Right to Counsel,’ and tenants in Los Angeles will be much better off as a result.”

In response to Feldstein Soto’s claims that more than $58 million in eviction defense grants remain “unaccounted for” in the foundation’s financial audits and IRS forms, Schultz said taxpayer dollars have not been misspent and that no findings have been made to that effect.

“[The Legal Aid Foundation] is a very large nonprofit law firm that has over 40 federal, state and local government contracts,” Schultz said. “We are very used to being audited. Any audit the city wants to do to satisfy itself is absolutely fine with us.”

Feldstein Soto denied a five-year contract to the legal aid group last year, arguing it should have gone through a competitive bidding process. After the city solicited applications and selected the group for new long-term funding, she later told city councilmembers in a confidential memo that they should consider withholding support for “a frequent litigant against the city.”

While she announced the contract should be ready for her signature by July 7, Feldstein Soto said her office would move forward with plans to assign forensic accountants to study how the legal aid group has spent more than $90 million in city funds since 2021.

At the Bristol Swap Mall in Santa Ana, people are flocking to buy their Mexico soccer team jerseys and paraphernalia.

“The color is green and that says Mexico right here,” said Catherine Hernandez, who’s entering third grade, as she pointed to the replica Mexico soccer jersey her mother had bought her at a nearby stall.

She asked her mother to get her one the day after Mexico’s win against Ecuador and is already thinking about how she’ll feel wearing it Sunday during Mexico’s knockout game against England in the Round of 16.

“Excited, very excited because I’m Mexican and I love this shirt,” she said.

Hernandez was born in the U.S. and her mother was born in Mexico. Both say their Mexico jerseys symbolize those similar but different prides in their Mexican backgrounds.

They're among fans rooting for Mexico’s men’s national soccer team to advance further than ever before into the World Cup tournament. A win against England would move the team to the Round of 8, the quarterfinals, for the third time. Along the way, this Mexico team has captured the imagination of many in the U.S. who have, or are close to, those of Mexican heritage.

Proudly wearing the green jersey

The market vendor at the stall said only one adult-size 2026 jersey remained. So many had been sold they'd had to place an order for more.

A replica of Mexico's 2026 FIFA World Cup soccer jersey.

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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez

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LAist

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Many Mexico fans have been wearing their jerseys on the days leading up to the team's World Cup matches.

“On Monday, I looked around to see a sea of green, white and red, and it nearly brought me to tears in line at Costco,” said Alex Alcantar, who lives in Norwalk.

He was born and raised in the U.S. and he says his Mexico soccer jersey symbolizes that experience.

“Why I wear my Mexico jersey is because I want to visibly represent this community when our contributions to society are so heavily discounted,” he said.

The team’s growing prominence has also coaxed some others in Mexican communities in the U.S. to feel more confident in their identity.

“I've never used [a Mexico jersey] before,” said Xochi Flores, who was born in Oxnard and whose great-grandparents were Mexican.

“I didn't feel like I could go around representing Mexico when I'm a Chicana, third generation, not the best Spanish speaker,” she said.

Xochi Flores (left), with her husband Cesar Castro, has become more comfortable wearing the soccer jersey recently.

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Courtesy Xochi Flores

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In the past year, she said she’s felt closer to her Mexican roots as she’s seen reports of farmworkers and other people of Mexican descent arrested by ICE agents.

So to her, wearing her Mexico soccer jersey means leaving behind insecurities she used to have about not being “Mexican enough,” as well as “not being American enough.”

“I want my kids to see me embracing all of the parts of me. … They don't have those insecurities, and that makes me happy,” Flores said.

Wearing the jersey when you're Mexican-ish

The stalls are attracting all types of customers. “I'm just looking for a Mexican soccer jersey,” said Son Lam, who lives in nearby Orange and identifies as Vietnamese.

Lam says he’s become devoted to soccer since the World Cup started June 11. Buying and wearing a Mexican soccer team jersey means showing off his newfound sports fandom already embraced by his extended family

“My wife is Mexican and to me, [wearing the Mexico jersey] means I can fit in with the family more," he said as he laughed.

However they identify, all these shoppers will likely be wearing their jerseys as they watch Mexico compete against England on Sunday, July 5. Joining millions of fans rooting for their team to advance to the next round, and keeping dreams of a 2026 FIFA World Cup championship alive.

Santa Ana voters could be asked in November to maintain the city’s 1.5% sales tax, which was set to decrease in 2029 and eventually expire.

Voters approved the citywide sales tax in 2018 on the condition that it sunset in 20 years. Now, the Santa Ana City Council will vote Tuesday on whether to ask voters in November to make the tax permanent.

The big picture

Only about one-third of cities in Orange County have a local sales tax on top of the county-imposed sales tax of 7.75%. Sales taxes in most of Los Angeles County are much higher — L.A.’s countywide sales tax is 9.75% and the highest total sales taxes for cities in L.A. County are in Lancaster and Palmdale, at 11.25% each, according to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration.

Other potential tax hikes in OC

Voters in Orange will be considering a sales tax hike on their November ballot, after failing to get voters’ approval in 2024. San Clemente voters will also consider a local sales tax in November to pay for more sand to shore up local beaches.