This Amazingly Looking Sushi is Actually Made of Stone

Based only on photos of his works, you could easily assume that Mari Hamahira is one very talented sushi chef. However, while he does make sushi, he’s no chef. At least, that’s not his primary profession.

Hamahira is a Japanese artist who creates amazingly realistic sushi sculptures using polished stones. To make it all even more impressive, the bright colors of seafood in his gunkan maki or tuna in nigiri sushi pieces are all natural. So the color you see is the color of the stone used and not a result of a paint job.

Hamahira, who is a graduate student at one of Japan’s art schools, revealed that he came up with the idea while going through a lockdown. The remote learning allowed him to invest more time into the project, and he ended up making it the centerpiece of his graduating thesis.

The sushi sculptures were mainly inspired by Hamahira’s working experience in the seafood industry and the food waste that surrounds it. He is hoping to raise awareness about the issue with this project, which is the main reason for including the more provocative sushi pieces with human body parts resting on rice instead of fish.

According to Hamahira, this part of the collection should remind us that some of the food we consume was once a living and breathing thing.