Sometime around the 18th-century, Japan was fragmented into multiple states which left the samurai [Japaneses warriors] defending their respective regions.
When the warriors returned from defeating their enemies, they would celebrate their wins in geisha houses that hosted Nyotaimoris.
Now considered an art form, Nyotaimori is eating sushi off a perfectly still, naked woman’s body! A marriage of food and sensuality.
The nude woman’s body serves as a food plate. The woman is generally expected to lie still at all times and not talk with guests.
The sushi is placed on sanitized leaves on the model’s body to prevent skin-to-fish contact and on sufficiently flat areas of the body, off which the sushi will not roll.
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 chill the body down somewhat for the sushi
.
A Las Vegas-based sushi chef, Mark Scharaga, who has been offering the dinner experience for over a decade and has branded it as a form of art saying; “We’re not selling s*x—we’re selling experience with a beautiful woman or man”. The less common male variant is called Nan
taimori.
It has become an increasingly popular bachelor party trend. The sushi chef said they mostly end up in bachelor or bachelorette parties, corporate events, birthday parties, and private dinners, producing up to four to eight events a month.
Aside from the obvious attractions of salivating over a nubile body, it is claimed that nyotaimori warms the food to body temperature. Apparently, this allows the diner to focus on the texture and taste, rather than its
temperature.
The meal is usually expensive and served at exclusive locations, hence it is considered a dinner for the rich. In popular culture, Samantha covered herself in sushi and waited for her lover in the 2008 S*x and the City film.
However, the practice has and drawn criticism from those who label the event as objectifying, degrading, and anti-feminist. It has been outlawed in some countries, due to health and moral concerns.
