Body Sushi

"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."

—Jack Herbert, Japan for the Uninvited

Body Sushi is the English word for nyotaimori or nantaimori. Nyotaimori or "female body presentation" comes from Japan and is the act of eating sushi off the body of a nude woman. The male version, Nantaimori, does exist but it's not as common.

As one might guess, this is often a form of Fan Service. Expect it in works that want to convey a sense of erotic mystery concerning Japan. Yakuza are often involved as well. It should be noted, however, that the practice is not nearly as mainstream in Japanese culture as some may think.

Not to be confused with Food Porn. See also Improvised Clothes.

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Examples of Body Sushi include:

Anime and Manga

• In Kanokon, Chizuru gets into a body-sized sushi boat naked in attempt to hit on Kouta.
• An episode of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kira has a fruit and yogurt variation of this trope in a fantasy sequence.
• In the fourth episode of Hen Semi, Mizukoshi acts as a nyotaimori gathering where it shows various food on her body.
• In Kodomo No Jikan, a student does this to impress her cooking teacher, with whom, she has a crush.

Fan Works

• In Nepeta Quest 2011, Zander says it's in his job description (the eating part, not the lying down part).

Film

• The Brandon Lee and Dolph Lundgren film Showdown In Little Tokyo depicts a private yakuza party, complete with Nyotaimori.
• The J-horror comedy Big Tits Zombie has two scenes with this act, involving drunk yakuza members. The first is the more traditional version while the second involves zombies eating a nude woman in a manner that reflects the previous scene.
• The Sex and the City movie has a scene in which the main character does this as a Valentine's Day present for her lover.
• Rising Sun has a scene in which a yakuza performs this moments before Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes' character busts him.
• Bruno depicts the male version, Nantaimori.
• Happens in Tampopo between a yakuza and his wife.
• The Spanish movie Map of the Sounds of Tokyo depict nyotaimori in one scene.
• The titular character from the up-coming film Sushi Girl does this.

Live-Action TV

• The Surreal Life was a reality show featuring has-been celebrities living together. One episode showed Verne Troyer eating sushi off the naked body of a celebrity from America's Next Top Model. She was not happy when he decided to cop a feel.
  • The last season turned the series into a reality gameshow with many celebs returning, including Troyer. They had the cast sit down with both a man and woman nantaimori/nyotaimori respectively. Learning his lesson from the previous episode, Troyer decided not to get frisky.
• An episode of CSI New York has the Victim of the Week turn out to have been poisoned at one of these. It turned out one of the tables was a former PA she'd fired and ruined the career of for refusing to sleep with her, and then proceeded to specifically request her at the restaurant (the only place she could find work, meaning she couldn't refuse and get fired) and had poisoned her nail varnish to get her revenge.
• In Kenny vs. Spenny, Spenny's humiliation for losing a competition involves him having to eat sushi off of Kenny's naked, hairy body.
• An episode of Come Dine With Me, a host serves a starter of sushi to his guests in the Nantaimori fashion.
• In the second season of the US version of MasterChef, a contestant attempts to impress the judges by serving the nyotaimori variety of this in the auditions. It didn't work.
• 30 Rock - Tracy holds a business function and has sushi served on Kenneth - the wasabi is kept in his mouth.

Web Original

• Played for laughs in the webcomic Ménage à 3: in one omake Zii and Didi are eating sushi on a nude girl, when suddenly Zii realize that something's wrong.... the girl they're eating on is not Japanese but Korean!
• Played for Hypocritical Humor in the second strip of Two Guys and Guy: The trio eats such a meal while discussing that other people are perverts with weird fetishes.

Western Animation

• Frisky Dingo had an episode in which the Big Bad eats sushi this way while interrogating the protagonists.
• In Clerks the animated series, Randall recounts being married to a Japanese business man, who had him do this.

Real Life

• Certain high-end strip clubs and sushi restaurants in the US are known to arrange this. Bring your wallet.
• China has outlawed this practice as unsanitary.
  • Ironically, the practice was originally invented by Chinese, learned by Japanese later.
• South African entrepreneur Kenny Kunene once held a birthday party that featured nyotaimori, which caused a great deal of controversy.
• When performed in the West, many feminists have protested it and some Japanese people feel embarrassed by it, according to this facebook article.