"It's dehumanizing, the manner in which people are buying and selling sushi to be eaten off a woman's body. It's dehumanizing to be treated as a plate," said Cherry Cayabyab, president of the local chapter of National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum.

If the club persists, she and other activists say they will begin a campaign, apparently the first organized opposition to naked sushi in the United States.

Promoters and customers reply that the monthly naked sushi night at Bonzai is performance art.

The practice involves an array of sticky rice mixed with raw fish and other Japanese delicacies placed on clear plastic wrap over the torso of a supine model wearing a thong and a few flower petals.

Bonzai patrons pay a $5 cover charge, buy a drink and pick their way through salmon, ahi tuna, eel and California rolls. Seven models work in half-hour shifts.

Chef and owner Jun Hong and promoter Cheresa Nemitz enforce rules that include respect for the model, no hooting or yelling, no tips and no talking to her.

Critics at the university Women's Center say it still promotes violence against women.

"It provides a forum to see a human being as an object -- and when women are viewed as objects, they are more likely to be violated," said Norma Timbang, executive director of the Asian and Pacific Islander Women and Family Safety Center.

Nemitz says she's eager to tell the women how she considers it an art form in which the human form becomes an aesthetic tableau that changes as each piece of sushi is taken for consumption.

"As a woman, I can't ignore what other women are saying, but I think there are bigger fish to fry than performance art," Nemitz said.

One model, an Asian-American woman, wouldn't say how much she was paid and asked not to be named but told The Seattle Times she found the work relaxing, sensual and meditative.

"It's ridiculous to comment on it without experiencing it. It's hearsay," she said.