Host： So， how did all this start？ I mean， what’s the history？
Steve： After World War II， a lot of westerners started coming to Japan， and it was kind of a two-way street. They couldn’t really understand the local food， the Soba， the Udon， the traditional food here， and then the Japanese couldn’t understand what hamburgers or hot dogs were， and so you had to figure out a way to illustrate it， and it just made the most sense to create some kind of a model. It’s been around since World War II.
Host： It’s incredible. It’s a kind of simple fix， you know， basically pointing at something to overcome these linguistic and cultural misunderstandings.
Steve： Exactly. I asked the question， like， “Do you have pre-made sets， or do people actually want customized things？” and they showed me this incredible room full， I mean， floor to ceiling， full of boxes， with all kinds of ingredients that you can literally create yourself. So， do you want Shitaki mushrooms sliced or chopped？ Do you want Enoki mushrooms？ Do you want shrimp that’s cooked？ Do you want， you know， different kinds of eggs？ I mean you can literally assemble anything you want into a plate， and then they’ve got somebody who’ll look at the picture of whatever the restaurant wants， and then they will recreate this exact dish.
Host： I mean， given the level of 7）artisanship， what costs more， the real piece of a Sashimi or the fake piece？
Steve： The pieces are expensive. I looked at just like a little piece of nigiri， which is a piece of fish over rice， anywhere between $8.00 and $14.00， for one piece.
Host： What was the most realistic piece of food you saw， where you were almost ready to sink your teeth into it？