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PVC, silicone & wax food displays in restaurants melt as heatwave hits Japan

A brutal heatwave sweeping across Japan has sent temperatures soaring past 40°C — and it’s not just people suffering. Even the country’s iconic fake food displays, typically made of wax, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and silicone, are melting in the scorching heat.

Source: X

Food displays warp under extreme heatwave

On Tuesday (5 Aug), Maeil Business Newspaper reported that Japan’s ongoing heatwave had gotten so severe that it was melting the famously durable food replicas often used to decorate restaurant displays.

Photos posted by Japanese netizens on X show sagging bowls of noodles, warping matcha cups, and sliding soup bowls in shop windows.

What once looked appetising now resembles something from a fever dream, with plastic ramen sliding out of bowls and adhesives failing to hold the meals upright.

Source: X 

Some users added humorous captions to the scenes, sharing how the heat had turned the meticulously sculpted meals into surreal blobs.

One X user posted cups of fake matcha tea that were seen “melted over” with a caption:

Matcha Latte: “It’s so hot I might throw up.”

Source: X

Food models melt into nightmares

These hyper-realistic food models — usually crafted from wax, plastic, or silicone — have been part of Japanese food culture since the early 20th century, offering restaurants a way to showcase dishes without using real food.

However, this summer’s unprecedented heat has pushed them past their breaking point.

It’s not just fake food suffering either.

At Hangai Nagahama, a shop that sells over 70,000 various items, an old advertising billboard has become a bizarre heatwave casualty.

Originally installed more than a decade ago, it featured a wide-eyed infant.

Since around 2023, the face began to melt and warp from prolonged heat exposure.

The once innocent child now appears like something out of a horror movie, with the shop owner choosing to leave the disturbing image up, calling it their own version of “summer horror”.

Source X

A recent image taken in Sept 2024 shows the billboard almost completely unrecognisable.

Source: Google Maps

Heatwave breaks records across Japan

The intense heatwave has scorched cities across Japan, with the town of Tamba in Hyogo Prefecture recording a staggering 41.2°C, the country’s highest temperature ever.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), at least 16 other cities also reported record-breaking highs.

In July alone, Japan’s average temperature was 2.89°C higher than the 1881–2020 average, making it the hottest July since records began.

In June, over 17,000 people were hospitalised for heatstroke, the highest ever recorded in a single month since the data started in 2010, reported The Japan Times.

Also read: Redditor asks if S’pore is in a heatwave, netizens commiserate over ‘brutal’ weather

Redditor asks if S’pore is in a heatwave, netizens commiserate over ‘brutal’ weather

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