Posted on 04/05/2004 12:06:45 PM PDT by presidio9
A Japanese restaurant which served sushi on the body of a near naked woman has caused a storm of controversy in the conservative southwest Chinese city of Kunming.
The Hefengcun Huaishi restaurant launched a promotional "feast on a beauty's body," for local journalists last Friday, hiring two attractive fair-skinned college girls to lie on tables, with sushi and other food and flowers placed on their bare bodies covered with thin gauze, restaurant employees told AFP.
The reports caused a firestorm in the local and national press with many readers slamming the novel dining trend as offensive and insulting to women.
"This is a form of disrespect towards women. I don't know how anyone can eat such type of food," a local resident was quoted by the Beijing Star Daily saying.
Li Ailing, manager of the Japanese-owned restaurant, told AFP the restaurant received hundreds of phone calls, with many protesting the restaurant's bare cheek.
"We didn't think the reaction would be so explosive, so controversial," Li said. "The purpose of this promotion is not commercial, but to spread Japanese culture."
She blamed the reaction on Kunming people's conservative attitudes, but said the restaurant also had many supporters after reports came out.
"We had lots of people who supported us and wanted to make reservations, including people from Hong Kong and Taiwan," Li told AFP.
Known as "Nyotai Mori" in Japan, the feasts date back to ancient times and are often offered in special hotspring resorts today, but are generally left off menus. They are offered to aficionados on request.
Restaurants as far afield as Seattle and Manchester have also offered sushi in the raw and drawn similar protests from women's activists.
Li said the Kunming restaurant was planning to charge 1,000 yuan (120 US dollars) per person, far lower than the 10,000 yuan cost in Japan.
The restaurant had also protected the girl's modesty by covering their breasts and genitals with seashells, and laying gauze over the rest of the exposed flesh, and getting waitresses to serve customers rather than allowing them to touch the girls, Li added.
"We also put the food on leaves and leaves on the body. We don't put the food right on the body," she said.
Kunming residents, however, lost their appetite. Some urged the government to take action, the Beijing paper said.
But the restaurant has not lost hope.
"Currently, Kunming people may not be able to accept this, but over time, maybe they can," Li said.
You're not the only one. Yum-Yum!
I feel really bad. I've lived in Japan quite a few years and never got to see this aspect of Japanese culture. I think my wife has been shielding me.
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