Nyotaimori

Nyotaimori (Japanese: 女体盛り, "female body presentation"), often referred to as "body sushi," is the extremely rare practice of serving sashimi or sushi from the body of a woman, typically naked. Nantaimori (Japanese: 男体盛り) refers to the same practice using a male model. This subdivision of food play is originally an obscure Japanese practice that has attracted considerable international media attention.

In Japan the practice is stigmatised and usually only to be found in "seedy sex clubs". When it is presented overseas, however, it is marketed as "a form of Japanese food culture".

Procedures

File:NyotaimoriSushiModel.jpg

Before becoming a living sushi platter, the person (usually a woman) is trained to lie down for hours without moving. She or he must also be able to withstand the prolonged exposure to the cold food. Before service, the individual is supposed to have taken a bath using a special fragrance-free soap and then finished off with a splash of cold water to cool the body down somewhat for the sushi. In some parts of the world, in order to comply with sanitation laws, there must be a layer of plastic or other material between the sushi and the body of the woman or man.

— Jack Herbert, Nyotaimori (Body sushi), Japan for the Uninitiated

In the experience of Guardian columnist Julie Bindel, the models in London were hired through an agency, and had no prior training.

Reception

Promoters, eating participants, and apologists to the practice often say that nyotaimori is a form of art.

This argument is rejected by some feminists, who argue that it objectifies the woman or the man doing the serving. Guardian columnist Julie Bindel notes that the women being used to serve the food, on at least one occasion in London, looked "as if in a morgue, ­awaiting a postmortem."

Worldwide reception varies. For public health reasons, China has outlawed food served on naked bodies.

Tickets for naked sushi night may cost around US$75, which may includes sushi, sake and champagne. Others, such as that attended by Bindel, may cost £250.

Nyotaimori in Popular Culture

The practice of nyotaimori is mentioned in passing in a number of Hollywood movies

• In Showdown in Little Tokyo, Dolph Lundgren's character comments on it
• Nyotaimori was parodied in the 2009 film Brüno, where the title character serves sushi to Paula Abdul on the body of a naked Mexican man, causing her to leave in disgust
• In the Sex and the City movie, Samantha Jones makes sushi and covers her body with it for a Valentine's Day present
• In the movie Rising Sun (1993), the character Eddie Sakamura eats sushi off a naked woman before being busted by Harvey Keitel and Wesley Snipes.

External links

• Nyotaimori video