I have been offering the art of Nyotaimori for over a year now, so when I received the call from a local catering company to provide this service for a wedding reception in July, I was thrilled! For those of you unfamiliar with Nyotaimori, it is a Japanese art tradition of displaying sushi on a young women’s body. Typically the model is topless, with her private region covered in ti leaves. In America, the sushi is usually placed on top of the leaves that cover the women’s stomach and thighs.
The bride and her soon-to-be-husband lived in Japan for some time, so they wanted to bring the culture to their wedding as a surprise for the guests. I asked the bride if she wanted a particular look and she requested a model of Asian descent, making the Nyotaimori more authentic. She also requested the model’s breasts be covered in leaves, as she was unsure how her family would react to a topless women covered in food at their wedding! She also asked that the model be airbrushed with the design of the wedding. As a result, I booked one of my lovely Asian models and my makeup and body artist, Alexia with Isis.
The day of the event fell upon us, and I was so excited to work with Alexia and my model to give the bride the reception of her life and the guests a fun surprise! The bride and groom even had small cards made up to put on the Nyotaimori table that explained the Japanese tradition. Needless to say, the sushi model was going to be the highlight of the wedding!
My model was coming to LA for the event which was to be held on a Friday evening, with her call time at 6 p.m. Unfortunately, we all know how crazy LA traffic is on Fridays! As a result, the sushi model contacted me that she was going to run about a half hour late. She was supposed to be on the sushi table, made up, air brushed, and ready for the guests by 7:30 for the guests to come in at 7:45-7:50. Alexia said she only needed approximately an hour to complete the art, but Alexia is also runway trained, so she can handle anything.
Well…6:30 came and no sushi model. At that point, she was stuck in Oceanside traffic… 7:00 she still had not arrived and was near Pacific Beach….I called my back up, but her call time was 6:00, so she was no longer available…7:30 and the model had just gotten off of the freeway and was stuck in downtown traffic…at 7:40, wanting to execute what I was hired to do, I made an executive decision………I would be the NAKED SUSHI MODEL! It was me, or nothing at all. I went with me!
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