Monday, October 6, 2008

によたいもり

Don't ask me why, but I was watching MTV a few weeks ago and I saw something really ridiculous. There is some show on that channel called From G's to Gents that is supposed to be a contest between 14 "gangsters" to see who can become the most refined gentleman (kind of a funny concept, right?). In one of the episodes, the guys learn about table manners, then go to a "business dinner" with three Japanese men. They go into this room where a naked woman is lying on a table covered in sushi, and the three Japanese men tell the guys that eating sushi off of a naked woman is a "Japanese tradition." They then sit around and eat sushi, discussing life and whatnot, all while trying to ignore the naked woman lying right in front of their faces. It was really bizarre.

I looked it up. It's called nyotaimori, or "female body presentation," but it's not a Japanese tradition as far as I can tell. It does seem to be becoming a reality TV trend (apparently it's been featured on several other shows), but the only information source I could find about the practice in Japan claimed only gangsters were into it.

Is it just me, or is using a naked woman as a sushi plate a little offensive/unsanitary/weird?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

へんですね!

グレゴリー said...

によたいもりはおもしろいですね!

Ryan Martin said...

I can't speak Japanese. I can sort of speak Chinese: 我不要吃你说的菜。Although, actually, I know some word in Japanese that is used to describe skanky old men: すけべ。Oh, and the girl sitting next to me is 17. Which makes me feel like Japanese has conspired against me today to make me feel old and dirty.

タイラ ハルピンーヒリ said...

まじで?
That's too much, using a bare human body as an eating surface. I believe that there is actually a restaurant in New York which does something similar, but the more intimate parts of a woman are wrapped in cling wrap, so that all view is obstructed.
わたしはじょのきらいです。

Mirai said...

That is sick. its good that you brought it though. It seems as if people are becoming increasingly sloppy while representing their own cultures properly.