Can eating a meal on a beautiful naked woman be considered a form of art? In Japan it has been practiced throughout the centuries and probably the lovers of the naked sushi agree. This form of art consists in eating small pieces of raw fish, seaweeds and rice directly from a female body lying still in front of the customer.

This form of Japanese sexual fetishism represents for the Western countries a new frontier, a way to test the five senses. In Japan the Nyotaimori, also called “body sushi”, was invented 400 years ago. Even if nowadays it is more widespread compared to the past, it is often dedicated to particular clients. Once only few people could taste delicacies on the body of the most beautiful geishas of the kingdom. This habit required long preparation during which the women chosen for the Nyotaimori cleansed their body with special soaps. Before placing the sushi on the body, they had to have a cold shower, because the temperature of the food was similar to the one of the body.

After the United States, the Nyotaimori has recently landed in Italy, in Milan. Some models who become the “table”, come from the body painting, so they already have a special relationship with their body and nudity.

The managers of this new business raised moral questions and thought about the possible reaction of their clients. So they decided to reinterpret the original Japanese version covering the intimate parts of the body, in order to make this art closer to the western world.  

Translated by Chiara Nunnari from John Milton Institute