Takizo Iwasaki (岩崎 瀧三, Iwasaki Takizō) (September 12, 1895 - 1965) was a Japanese businessman who is credited with the invention of "shokuhin sampuru", the plastic models of menu items commonly displayed in restaurant street-front windows in Japan.
[3] He is said to have been inspired to create his first shokuhin sampuru after seeing drops of candle wax forming on the tatami mat floor of his apartment.
[4] After many months of trial and error, Iwasaki was able to produce a fake omelette, complete with simulated tomato sauce, that his wife thought was real on first glance.
[2] He later opened a company called Iwasaki Be-I Co., Ltd., in Gujo Hachiman, his hometown.
The company still enjoys a large share, an estimated 60% of the Japanese market for shokuhin sampuru,[5] and the town of Gujo Hachiman is now known as the food replica capital of the Japan.