17 May 2005 @ 20:47
This article give a very nice look into how it is to be a nyotaimori geisha. Unfortunately it is in French, and I can't find the original, so I translated it back into English.
In Japan one might find businessmen at a meal seated around ... a naked woman. A body table laid out with sushi - raw fish and sea weeds - which they will pick from with their chopsticks. That is what is called "nyotaimori". It is clearly a tradition. But also, for these geisha girls, long hours they need to spend, surrendering themselves to lying perfectly still, without the slightest reaction to whatever might be said around the table.
Mayumi and Yukio are preparing themselves. Meticulously washed and groomed, they will offer themselves to the gourmet tastes of a group of businessmen.
After greeting each other with a bow of the head, four Japanese businessmen in their forties take hold of their chopsticks and prepare themselves for an exceptional feast. In front of them lie two naked geishas, their bodies artfully covered with sushi. The fantasy of a CEO? It is however not just a dream. These men are following an old Japanese tradition called nyotaimori, which literally means "serving from the body of a woman". They will pay thousands of Yen for the pleasure of eating off of the naked skin of a virgin geisha. During the hours that will follow, Yukiko will stay perfectly still while the men will pick raw fish off her breasts, her stomach, her pubis and her legs.
Her role as a living dinner plate symbolizes the ethic of a geisha - total service, submitting to the entertainment of the client. "When I was little," says the young woman of 21 years, a little shyly, "I dreamed of becoming a nurse or a school teacher. I would never have thought that one day I would be paid for lying like that, spread out, naked, covered with sushi."
In earlier times, the geishas practiced nyotaimori like they did calligraphy, tea ceremonies, or the samisen (a stringed instrument). The apprenticeship commenced in childhood and continued till around the age of sixteen. For a geisha, timid and sensual, what mattered more than anything was to put her male clients at ease and to give them pleasure. The traditionalists would simply say that nyotaimori is an example of service taken to its highest degree of refinement.
Today it is the money which is the primary motivation for young women like Yukiko. In certain spas they might be paid seven thousand yen, around $70 per hour. "A good week might bring me 200 thousand yen ($2000)" says Yukiko, while she's preparing herself for the evenings meal. "That's just the salary. The tips might easily be half on that on top. That might seem like a lot, particularly for somebody my age, but it is not as easy as it might seem. I have to stand the fish smell on my body. Earlier I loved sushi. Now nothing could entice me to eat it. If my work wasn't so well paid, I wouldn't be here. You see, I'm saving up for going to college. I would like to study design." Yukiko has worked in an "onsen", a hot spring spa, in the Biwa prefecture, north east of Kyoto, for a year and a half. She came here from her home village in the far north of Honshu Island at the advice of a friend. She had heard that there constantly was a need for nyotaimori girls there. "I thought that this tradition had died out a while back" she said. While running her polished nails through her long black hair she adds: "My family and my friends think I'm saving up by working as a waitress. Obviously they think that I'm dressed while I work. They would be shocked if they knew the truth.
 An Olympic Calm
The nyotaimori hostesses submit to a very strict regimen in preparation. The training consists of placing six chicken eggs on different points of the body of the apprentice geisha. Spread out flat on the floor, they need to stay motionless for four hours, without allowing any of the eggs to move. To test her dedication, one would then drop ice cubes in random spots on her body. If any of the eggs fall off, the time is reset to zero, and the test starts over again.
It is a hard training in being able to stay, stretched out, motionless and serene, no matter what kind of behavior the clients exhibit. "The worst is when they're trying to impress each other," says Yukiko softly. "The more sake they drink, the worse they behave. They always make indecent remarks, as if I couldn't hear them. They comment on the shape of my breasts or my mouth, or they brag about how well they could satisfy me sexually."
"In the beginning I would lie and listen to their conversations. But now I just ignore them, and I daydream about my future plans. One time an old company president from Tokyo wanted to stick his chopsticks into my vagina. I jumped up and screamed. I was so furious that I wanted to follow him and tell his wife everything."
A Virgin on the Menu
"I've had lots of bad experiences," says Mayunii, Yukiko's colleague, who's 24 years old. "I don't even remember all the times that somebody has vomited on top of me. For hours I've had to listen to their humiliating mockeries, as if I were a lifeless body spread out in front of them. One time there was even an old man who fell down on top of me, after suffering a heart attack."
It is because of that requirement, to stay perfectly calm and indifferent in regards to the conduct of the clientele, that the management of the establishment, when they recruit nyotaimori geishas, are looking for young girls who are very patient. Some of them only accept girls with blood type A, as, in the Japanese culture, people of this type are considered to be calm and serene. (Those with type B are considered to be ambitious, type O to be dominating, and type AB to be intellectuals.)
There is an additional criterion: the geisha must be a virgin, because only a girl with an intact hymen possesses the required internal purity and external cleanliness. Yukiko hastens to emphasize her chastity. "One can't assume that nyotaimori is a lead-in to sex," she says defiantly. "There is no sex going on. Take my example. I have never had sexual relations." As to the presentation of the geishas, nothing is left to chance. About an hour and a half before the event they commence a meticulous ritual of grooming.
As if they were eating off of fine china, the clients are expecting the geishas to be impeccable. All hair is removed with wax from the legs and the armpits, and the pubic hair is shaven. In a special section of the onsen, the geishas pour hot water over their bodies and sponge themselves with non-perfumed soap. Then they're rubbed on every inch of their body with a grain-filled bag of linen, called a nukabukuro, to remove dead skin. Then a shower with very hot water, followed by another rubbing, this time with a soft sponge. They finish with an ice cold shower, in order to lessen perspiration. No deodorant or perfume is used, as they might influence the taste of the sushi.
Gourmet Rituals
 If a geisha has to participate in several services in an evening, she has to repeat the whole preparation ritual before each of them, in addition to applying a solution of lime juice and rock salt for removing the spots and the fish smell. When again she has reached the perfect state of purity, she makes her way to the small mat where the meal will take place. The room is simple and sober and has for its only decoration a traditional ink drawing, a plant, and an ornamental vase. The temperature is kept low so that the geisha doesn't sweat.
As soon as the geisha has been placed in the center of the room, an assistant arrives with the food, carrying a tray of fresh sushi. With an expert rapidity, she places the cold morsels on the naked body, pieces made from raw fish on a bed of rice and vinegar. There's not a moment to lose; sushi is best to taste immediately after being prepared. Only occasionally are special orders prepared in advance.
Some clients prefer to eat the meal off the back or the buttocks of the geisha, rather than the front of the body. In the past, different types of sushi were placed in particular locations on the body. For example, ikura (salmon eggs) placed above the heart, was thought to increase the strength of the man who consumes it. Mekajiki (swordfish), associated with the digestion, and agano (eel), increasing sexual performance, all had their exact and correct location on the body. Today the nyotaimori establishments no longer practice these rituals and settle for placing the sushi in a decorative manner. Even if certain types of sushi still are in demand for their aphrodisiac properties, like usura notamago, sea-urchin with raw egg. One is also paying close attention to the amount of sushi. If there's too much, the body of the geisha might be too hidden. Big fish like tai (sea bream), crayfish, lobster, or even an octopus, will sometimes finish out the decoration. The vagina and the nipples are typically covered with vine leaves or flower petals. Her hair, spread out around the head, is also decorated with petals.
While the unmoving geisha stares into the ceiling, the clients enter, dressed in traditional yukata (cotton kimonos). "One knows right away if a man hasn't participated in nyotaimori before," says Mayurni. "He's laughing nervously, like a school boy, at the sight of naked flesh, and he's afraid of reaching for the sushi between the legs. Unfortunately, after a few glasses, the shyness tends to disappear".
An Unspoiled Beauty, yes but ...
Unexpected consequences of Mayumi's work: she's gotten better skin. "Before," she says, "I had very dry skin and some redness on the arms. All of that disappeared after a few weeks of this work." It has been scientifically proven that the enzymes of fish can have a beneficial effect on the skin. But, despite such aesthetic benefits, Mayumi would like to change her line of work. Three years as a nyotaimori geisha, that's enough. She can't be the only one who thinks that. A decade ago, the onsen employed a dozen nyotaimori girls. Today there's only two, Yukiko and Mayumi.
A Work of Art in Recession
Both of them have many times attracted the attacks of angry feminists and spouses. However, it isn't this hostility that is responsible for the decline in nyotaimori, but rather the recent economic crisis in Japan. Eating sushi off the nude body of a geisha has just become too costly for anybody but the most privileged business elite. A nyotaimori geisha costs at least 150 thousand yen ($1500), and the price of two geishas is around 260 thousand yen ($2600), and that is without the drinks.
Mr. Saito, the director of the spa, remembers better times: "Some years ago we often organized nyotaimori banquets for big groups of businessmen. We made them pay more than a million yen ($10,000). There were ten geishas lined up, one next to the other. It was a magnificent spectacle. In those days all the girls were guaranteed at least two sessions per evening. Nowadays there are fewer companies that send their managers to spas to relax. Frankly, the future of nyotaimori is uncertain."
In the dining room, Yukika is lying on the mat, still, while a young senior manager grabs a piece of tamago sushi from her chest. "Some people, particularly foreigners, think that it is vulgar," says Mr. Saito dryly. "But look, a beautiful woman, a delicious meal, a pleasant environment. It is a work of art."
Original text and photos by Rebecca Smith, taken from an article in Marie Claire, August 1998.
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