nyotaimori

Examples

• The word nyotaimori is usually translated as 'female body presentation', but a friend who has studied Japanese tells me it means something more like 'piling something on top'. Which sounds significantly less appetising.

  Julie Bindel, 'I Am About to Eat Sushi Off a Naked Woman's Body,' The Guardian

• Jake Adelstein, author of ‘Tokyo Vice,’ a memoir documenting his 12 years of reporting on crime for the Yomiuri Shimbun, says that nyotaimori has its fans within various organized crime groups but adds that it is generally considered over-the-top for today’s tastes. ‘It still takes place and it was definitely something that the yakuza liked to do at parties,’ he explains, ‘but as for now, it’s less popular [with gangsters] than before.’

  ‘Navigating Japan’s Nyotaimori Netherworld,’ The Tokyo Reporter, December 8, 2009

• Taking gentle breaths, she kept as still as possible so as not to disturb the clusters of oil-infused sushi rolls, sashimi and other pieces of raw fish artfully arranged on the banana leaves in a style known as nyotaimori.

  Eddie Lin, ‘Selling the Sizzle Even Though It’s Sushi,’ The New York Times, April 18, 2007