The likes of
Yoda, R2D2 and Han Solo are held together with bamboo skewers and
toothpicks and feature light sabers and other weapons.
They are
the brainchild of Japanese sushi chef Okitsugu Kado who spends more than
ten hours carving the vegetables before painstakingly piecing them
together.
‘In most cases I place vegetable sculptures on a dish for
customers with their food, although with some of the bigger ones
occasionally I will only put on display,’ said Mr Kado, from Osaka.
‘I’m a huge Star Wars fan and a member of a Japanese fan group called Jedi Order.
‘For my carvings I use everything from carrots, white radish, sweet potato, Kyo-potato, radish, even pumpkin and more.
‘I’ve been carving vegetables for almost 15 years and have made more than 40 sculptures. Before that I trained in ice carving.’
Despite his carvings taking a number of hours, he admits to
getting lost in a galaxy far, far away with time passing without him
even realising.
‘Sometimes I need over ten hours to finish just one sculpture
but it doesn’t matter to me because during carving I forget the time,’
said the 39-year-old, who works at sushi bistro Minayoshi.
‘I just want to see people smile – that is why I carve.’
/Metro/
Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker are among the famous faces to be sculpted from everything from carrots to sweet potato – complete with a side serving of the phantom lettuce - by a top sushi chef. 
