Superrealistic plastic face masks produced by a firm in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, have recently attracted attention at home and abroad, from facial-recognition system developers to a Saudi Arabian royal family member.
"Look, it makes your heart pound, doesn't it?" says Osamu Kitagawa, 60, president of Real-f Co., as he shows off a face mask.
The masks — called Real Face — are made of plastic resin roughly 1 to 2 millimeters thick.