Some of you internet aficionados may have heard the story of the 22-year-old Japanese man who cooked his own genitals and served them at a dinner party back in May, giving new meaning to the term “self serve.”

It was reported that after the event, local police refused to launch an investigation as nothing had been done that was against the law. However, on September 18, it was revealed that the case had been sent to the Tokyo Public Prosecutors office on suspicion of “public display of offensive sexual materials.”

But they were displayed in private to a group of paying customers… Do we really live in a society where a man cannot freely cut off and saute his own genitals and feed them to the public without risking prosecution!?

For the sake of humanity: yes please.

Mao Sugiyama (above), who is asexual, had his penis and scrotum surgically removed in early April, shortly after turning 22. However, unable to just throw the long-attached pieces of himself away, Sugiyama decided to take his frozen genitalia home from the hospital and use them as ingredients in an underground dinner party.

Sugiyama, who admitted to the allegation, explains: “I never felt comfortable with my male physiology, so I had my genitals removed, but the surgery was expensive so I decided to get back some of the money by throwing the event.”

The young illustrator rented out a small venue in the Suginami ward of Tokyo and, under the supervision of a cook, sauteed his genitals with mushroom and then garnished them with parsley in front of a crowd of about 70 people.

The finished dish was serverd to five lucky guests, who had each paid 20,000 yen (US $250) for the once-in-a-lifetime meal. Guests were reported to have said that the genitalia were rubbery and nearly tasteless.

Sugiyama used Twitter to search for potential buyers, writing: “I am offering my male genitals (full penis, testes, scrotum) as a meal for 100,000 yen. I’m Japanese.

“The organs were surgically removed when I was 22. I was tested for venereal diseases. The organs were of normal function. I was not receiving female hormone treatment.”

The tweets were seen by a female dancer, 24, who suggested the dinner idea party to Sugiyama and helped him plan it. The dancer and two other people who helped organize the event have been indicted along with Sugiyama in the case.

Sugiyama posted pictures of the meal to his blog after the event, but removed them shortly after, though they can still be found on other internet sources (see video below, viewer discretion advised).

Putting aside the dubiousness of Suginami’s actions as a human, should he really liable to face criminal charges for voluntarily cooking up his genitals in front of an audience there of their own volition and feeding them to paying customers?

It’s a tough call. After all, Japan has no laws on cannibalism and a case like this unprecedented. But at least we know Sugiyama has rendered himself physically incapable of becoming a repeat offender…

Source: Yahoo! Japan, Twitter, Huffington Post

■ THE FOLLOWING VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC PHOTOS OF SUGIYAMA’S “COOKING.” VIEW AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION