Eh. This is not news-- I heard about it years ago. And when I did hear about it, it was a full body experience where the ladies had to ensure they were freshly waxed all over and had to sit in a cold bath before service to keep the fish cold. If memory serves, the ladies made a killing and got a free wax job just for lying there.

I don't particularly want to eat sushi off of anyone's cooch, but far be it for me to deny anyone else the pleasure. And before you start your letter writing campaign to this restaurant, why don't you take your mighty pen and write letters to every single strip joint in this country?

especially the last line. she's kidding around.

What I want to know is why isn't it possible to pay the same amount of money and eat your sushi off of a semi-nude MAN? Imagine the lovely bachelorette parties we could all have. Why do the restaurant owners assume that women are going to want to stare at another woman all during dinner? Where's the fun in that?

Also, what does the woman who serves as the "platter" (god, that is so contemptible) do/say/look at while people are picking things off of her? Does she keep silent or make polite conversation? Enquiring minds and all that...

Agreed. This dining experience was profiled ages ago in just about every feminist 'zine available, as well as some mainstream magazines. C'mon, tell me you heard about it!

I was taking classes at a university two years ago and was constantly being approached by earnest young hippies imploring me to sign petitions banning the practice in Seattle. Why? These women are not sex slaves - they are paid well and do it willingly.

Food and sex are linked in a way that is difficult ot explain and impossible to do away with (ESPECIALLY in Japanese culture). This is just a very unsubtle way to make money off of it. Don't tell me sashimi doesn't make you think of oral sex - it's MEANT TO make you think of oral sex.

I think the problem so many people have with the practice has to do with the fact that the woman is lying still, and is passively allowing the activity, rather than dancing, wrapping her naked body around a pole. But there's very little difference in terms of objectification - the gyrating stripper actually has about as much say in her own destiny as the nude woman covered in raw fish - that is, it's her choice, and she can leave at any time.

Sanitation note: There usually is a barrier between the sashimi and the woman's skin - Saran Wrap, or something of the sort. All depends on city sanitation laws.

If you'd read the actual linked article before reacting to it, you'd see that Kizoku's manager said that he's interviewing "male sushi models" already.

Saw a publicity shot from a local band (Austin, TX) that reminded me of this. Here it is:

www.yuppiepricks.com

Yes, in a world where women still make only 77 cents to the male dollar in the richest society on the planet; where access to reproductive health of all kinds -- abortion, contraception, education -- is under the worst attack in a quarter-century; when tens of thousands of women worldwide are literally, not figuratively, enslaved for the sexual satisfaction of men and the profits of organized mobs of pimps -- let's spend time and energy castigating some jerk of a restaurant owner because he's allowing some women to rent their bodies as dinnerware.

Do you not understand that it is exactly this sort of nonsense that allows the right to call feminists "feminzis" and lets far too many American voters NOT think that's completely insane?

nowhere did she say this was major breaking news, or that it was a stop-the-presses issue. hello, she's "outraged" that the poor woman can't EAT the sushi! maybe you don't find it high-larious, but come on! you guys are just reading into what you expect 'humorless feminists" to say. which makes you look a little bit like ... uh ... humorless feminists.

I agree that this is a tacky, tacky thing to do and it truly debases women....and sushi!! I take exception, however, to Lynn Harris's phrase "a practice called nyotaimori in Japan." I lived in Japan for several years and never saw or heard of this, I asked several of my Japanese friends and they never heard of it, nor had they ever heard the term nyotaimori,which if broken down, means served on a woman's body. I think this idea originated in Philip Kaufman's imagination when he wrote the screen play for "Rising Sun." There is a scene that depicts this practice in order to illustrate the decadence of the rich corporate Japanese executives.

We've always had a tendency in the US to associate Japan with decadence, probably dating back to when missionaries first encountered the traditional practice of communal baths (gone by the wayside, incidentally) and the nudity that goes along with it. While the Japanese certainly know how to have a good time and they have some porno that would curl your eyelashes, they are very discrete about their sex and would never ever mix it with food. By all means, write the owner of Kizoku but don't blame the people who gave the world sushi.

The contributors to Broadsheet have a real sense of humor and aren't all eat up with PC. Quote at point:

"No woman, ever, should be asked to wear $500 worth of sushi for ninety minutes without being able to eat it."

I've always found the over-cultivated sensitivity to offense the least useful attribute of some in the Feminist movement.

As a male who would be willing to have suchi eaten off of my semi-nude body (for a reasonable fee), I protest against Kizoku restaurant for limiting their human platters to females.

Go to www.globalcuisingcatering.net, and click on "global art" There. Looks kind of nice, doesn't it? You can also arrange for a nude woman to be completely covered in chocolate, and to circulate at your party. This is not new, and not a big deal.

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