Japan 'naked restaurant' to ban customers for being overweight, elderly or tattooed

Tokyo diners will be able to eat almost naked as long as they meet some strict criteria on appearance

Tokyo's new naked restaurant will not welcome obese customers (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Japan’s first ever ‘naked restaurant’ is anything but stripped back when it comes to its rules for diners. Full nudity is off the menu, with guests to be issued with paper underwear. And if you are overweight or over 60 your chances of dining at the restaurant are slim.

The food may be organic but the “Adam and Eve-style banquet” promises to be heavily restricted. The pop-up dining experience is due to open in Tokyo on July 29 under the name Amrita, which stems from the Sanskrit word for immortality.

Japanese diners have already shown they are keen with tickets, ranging in price from £90 for a meal to £520 for food and dance show, sold out for several nights including the opening one.

But many eager to eat in the buff could find themselves rebuffed at the door as the Tokyo management have laid down stringent entry rules which they will go to some lengths to maintain.

The age limit is 18 to 60 and anyone more than 33lbs over the average weight for their height will be asked not to make a reservation.

Those who do turn up with tickets and appear overweight could face the embarrassing ordeal of being weighed and rejected with no ticket refund.

Rules on the restaurant’s website state: "We ask anyone more than 15 kg [33 lbs] above the average weight for their height to refrain from making a reservation.”

“In London they allow overweight patrons in and some guests complained they had a terrible experience,” Amrita spokeswoman Miki Komatsu told AFP.

She added: “If fat people are allowed in it could be miserable for some guests. Guests can see the guidelines clearly on our homepage. We are aiming for a sort of Roman aesthetic, like the beautiful paintings you see in museums.”

Tattooed diners will also be turned away, body art in Japan is often considered a link with underworld groups.

For those who do make it into the restaurant, the table etiquette rules are tight. Diners may not ‘cause a nuisance to other diners’ with uninvited small talk or tough other restaurant goers.

Cameras and mobiles phones have to 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 the Western waiters will be wearing g-strings as they perform a stage show for the diners.

The trend for naked dining has already taken London by storm where Bunyadi opened to the public in Shoreditch this weekend. With a waiting list of 44,200 people, the restaurant offers diners the chance to dine clothed or naked in a very natural environment without electricity or gas on handmade clay plates using edible cutlery.

Bunyadi founder Seb Lyall said: “The idea is to experience pure liberation. “We believe people should get the chance to enjoy and experience a night out without any impurities: no chemicals, no artificial colours, no electricity, no gas, no phone and even no clothes if they wish to.”