Food-shaped phone cases hot in Japan

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KAWASAKI, Japan, April 14 (UPI) -- Smartphone cases that look like food, even if made from non-edible materials, are the latest craze among Japanese women, marketers say.

The cases may look like taiyaki, bean paste-filled pancakes that are themselves gussied up to look like fish, or like steaks or pies, The Asahi Shimbun reported. They go for about $42 each.

Tsukasa Sample in Kawasaki, a small company that manufactures displays of plastic food for restaurants, branched out into smartphone cases as a sideline, selling them online. An executive said 3,000 have been sold in 18 months, 80 percent of them purchased by women.

"We cannot keep up with orders," he said.

The company said fruit tarts are the No. 1 seller. There are also seasonal variations, with designs featuring shaved ice doing better in the summer.

The soft-boiled egg on rice dish named tamago-kake gohan is the latest item on the company's smartphone menu.