A self-described asexual from Tokyo, Mao Sugiyama, cooked, seasoned and served his genitalia to five people at a banquet in Japan back in April. Sugiyama uses the word asexual to show people that he has no affiliate with the male or the female gender. The usual definition of asexual is a person who is non-sexual. When Sugiyama posted the following tweet on April 8 on Twitter, a firestorm erupted:
“[Please retweet] I am offering my male genitals (full penis, testes, scrotum) as a meal for 100,000 yen …Will prepare and cook as the buyer requests, at his chosen location.”
Only a couple of days after Sugiyama turned 22, the artist underwent elective genital-removal surgery. The surgery divided the shaft of his penis, his testicles and the skin on his scrotum so five people could eat the items. He garnished the items with button mushrooms and Italian parsley. The dinner cost $250 per plate and six people bought tickets, with five of them showing up to the dinner on April 13. Pictures of the event were posted on the blog of an organizer, which was later deleted, and they show dozens of people in attendance just to see what was going on at the dinner. There is no law against cannibalism in Japan.