Japanese chef cooks and serves his own genitals to paying cannibal diners
Mao Sugiyama, a nonbinary asexual, had their male genitalia surgically removed, then cooked, seasoned, and served them to five paying cannibal diners at a lavish banquet.
Although we might think of cannibalism as a rare practice, it turns out that the act of humans eating the flesh and organs of other humans is still being practiced to this day. In fact, in some countries there are no laws against cannibalism, making it completely legal. Japan is one of those countries, and that is where this, er, unique dinner banquet was held in April of 2012. Sugiyama, also known as Ham Cybele or HC, was born with the anatomy of a male, but does not identify their gender as male or female.
Sugiyama also identifies as asexual, which usually only refers to a person being non-sexual. They decided to get their genitalia removed, not only to move forward as a true embodiment of an asexual, nonbinary person, but also to make a statement on the inequality amongst genders in our modern society.
What did they do with said removed genitals after the surgery? Sugiyama, an artist and a chef, decided to take the severed penis, testicles, and scrotal skin, and cook them as a meal. Originally planning on eating the genitals themselves, they decided to serve the exclusive meal to other people instead. How does one find people who would be interested in paying to consume human genitals as a meal? Twitter, of course! According to Daily Mail Online, Sugiyama took to the social media platform looking for adventurous diners with these tweets, which have since been deleted:
“I am offering my male genitals (full penis, testes, scrotum) as a meal for 100,000 yen (£800). I’m Japanese.”
“The organs were surgically removed at age 22. I was tested to be free of venereal diseases. The organs were of normal function. I was not receiving female hormone treatment.”
“First interested buyer will get them, or I will also consider selling to a group. Will prepare and cook as the buyer requests, at his chosen location. If you have questions, please contact me by DM or e-mail.”
Of course, this tweet sparked quite a firestorm online, and got enough global attention that dozens showed interest. They held a banquet for 70 people at the Asagaya Loft A in the Suginami Ward of Tokyo on April 13, 2012. It was dubbed the Century Banquet, as the word ‘century’ is a homophone for the word ‘genitals’ in Japanese.
Obviously, there was not enough of the balls-y meal for all banquet attendees, which was reserved for a select few. Out of the six diners who signed up, five showed up and were served the meal. Other banquet guests were served either beef or crocodile meat as a dish, which pales in comparison to the main entrée that a select few had the chance to feast on.
Each of the five people who ate the organ paid $250. Sugiyama prepared, seasoned, and cooked the once-in-a-lifetime meal himself, in front of all diners and other banquet attendees, topping off the curious dish with button mushrooms and Italian parsley. According to Calorie Lab, one of the consumers (Shigenobu M.) wrote a blog post about the experience, but has since deleted it. He wrote that the penis was so tough, it nearly bent his fork, and was spit out. He recounts that the scrotum was even more tough and tasteless, and the testicles had a tough exterior but a soft middle, and tasted like fish.
Well, bone apple tea?
