Body Sushi

"NAKED SUSHI!" I shouted in farewell to my friend Mark last night. That's because he's accompanying me to a nightclub tonight for three hours of sake and an hour of body sushi.

What the heck is body sushi? It's made a big splash here in Chicago, with restaurants charging upwards of $500 a table for the opportunity to eat sushi off of a naked woman. Apparently its pernicious influence is not unusual in countries from Asia to Europe. Wikipedia even devotes an article to it: "Nyotaimori, ("female body presentation"), often referred to as "body sushi", is the practice of eating sashimi or sushi from the body of a woman, typically nude, for the purpose of sexual excitement."

It's that last line that gets me. I imagine this sort of thing is usually paid for by drunken businessmen or high-flyin' bachelor parties, who would make lewd jokes about the model and may even 'accidentally' poke her breasts with a chopstick when trying to pick up the maki or nigiri. The feminist decrys this blatant sexual display, akin to a stripper serving food in the nude. However, the try-anything-once part of my personality says "Awesome! When else would I do this, let alone for free?!"

I'm not sure how much sushi we'll be able to snag, but let's hope I can at least get a photo or two out of the night. Will keep you updated, loyal readers!


Update 3/28: Read Mark's version of the evening or see some titiallating photos.

Me + the naked sushi-laden model. As you can see, she wasn't wearing anything, not even a thong. Yet she was interacting with the audience--or clients--or bar patrons--whatever. Also, we didn't get to take the sushi off ourselves, which in retrospect made a lot of sense. No use for 100 intoxicated folks trying to get the precariously-balanced sushi off ourselves.

Still, for all of my initial hemming and hawing, it was a completely unique experience that I'm certain I'll be name-dropping for years to come. How often does one get to say they ate sushi off a naked model? Come on!

Sayonara!