Japan's 'naked restaurant' to ban customers due to being overweight, elderly or tattooed
Date: 2023-09-05 Author: Karina Ziganova Categories: NU ART
Japan's first "naked restaurant" is far from naked when it comes to diner rules. Full nudity has been removed from the menu and guests are provided with paper underwear. And if you're overweight or over 60, your chances of dining in a restaurant are slim.
The food may be organic, but the "Adam and Eve style banquet" promises to be severely limited. A pop-up restaurant in Tokyo called Amrita, which comes from the Sanskrit word for immortality.
Japanese visitors have already shown they are interested in tickets, which range from £90 to £520 for a meal and a dance show sold out for several nights including the opening.
But many eager to eat at the restaurant may be rejected at the door as Tokyo's leadership has set strict entry rules that they will go to any lengths to uphold.
The age limit is 18 to 60, and anyone over the average weight by more than 33 pounds for their height will be asked not to pre-order.
Those who show up with tickets and appear overweight may face the embarrassing ordeal of being weighed and rejected without ticket refunds.
The policy on the restaurant's website states: "We ask anyone who weighs more than 15 kg [33 lb] above the average weight for their height to refrain from booking."
"In London they allow overweight visitors and some guests have complained that they had a terrible experience," Amrita spokeswoman Miki Komatsu told AFP.
She added: “If fat people are allowed in, it might be unfortunate for some guests. Guests can check the recommendations on our home page. We strive for a kind of Roman aesthetic, like the beautiful paintings you see in museums."
Tattooed patrons will also be turned away, body art in Japan is often seen as a link to underworld groups.
For those who enter the restaurant, the rules of table etiquette are strict. Diners may not "inconvenience other diners" with uninvited small talk or gestures by other restaurant diners.
Cameras and mobile phones must be locked in a box on the table. And despite billing itself as a "naked" restaurant, patrons will be asked to wear paper underwear. Even Western waiters will wear thongs when they perform a stage show for patrons.
The nude dining trend has already taken London by storm, with Bunyadi opening to the public in Shoreditch. With a waiting list of 44,200 people, the restaurant offers diners the opportunity to dine dressed or naked in a very natural setting without electricity or gas on handmade earthenware plates using edible cutlery.
Bunyadi founder Seb Lyall said, “The idea is to experience pure liberation. “We believe that people should be able to enjoy and spend the night without any impurities: no chemicals, no artificial colors, no electricity, no gas, no phone, and even without clothes if they so desire.”
