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Written by Kenn Sava
In Japan, creating and distributing plans to print a 3-D vagina apparently is.
Given the millennia long history of nudity in Art,and the very conservative(?), somewhat hypocritical, laws in Japan about exposure of “certain parts” of the body, it was only a matter of time until this happened. Well? She has. Megumi Igarashi (aka Rokudenashiko or “good for nothing girl”), self styled “Manko (Vagina) Artist,” has been in the thick of it since her latest arrest in 2014. Early in May she was found guilty of “obscenity electromagnetic recording medium distribution” and fined 400,000 yen, about 4 grand.
“When she’s young we kill her will to be free
While telling her not to be so smart we put her down for being so dumb”*
I’ve been watching her trials (figuratively- “Japan’s view of pussy is really weird,” she says, and unfortunately, literally) with both fascination and shock. Now that her book “What Is Obscenity?,” has been released (as seen above from Koyama Press) it’s obvious that whatever obscenity is? Her work isn’t it. Just released, copies are scarce. Her “Free Manka” T-Shirts are sold out as well. A movement is beginning here- “Manko positivity.” Needless to say, I support her in her quest for Artistic Freedom.
But wait. A “Vagina Artist?” Yes, that’s right. She makes molds of hers and casts them into sculptures, toys and even, a kayak, which she sailed on a river in Tokyo. Tsk tsk, young lady. Depiction of human genetalia is illegal in Japan- used Artistically, or not. I’ve long been fascinated by Japan, for a lot of reasons, a trip there a while back only served to increase, but this is one that makes me wonder- “Why did this take so long to happen?”
“Better cover up, my dear, or we could be in jail in Japan.” Durer c.1504 The Met
From what I’ve seen of her new memoir, which is done in graphic novel (manga) style, she answers a lot of questions, though not that one, and raises many more. It looks to be well done. Not “resting on her laurels,” she is also trying to turn her cartoon character “Manko-chan” (i.e. “Miss Pussy”), seen here on her blog, into a pop culture icon. I wouldn’t bet against it.
Oh! About that hypocrisy? As Jon Stewart and others have pointed out, Japan has an annual festival each April devoted to the penis called the “Kanamara Matsuri” (“Festival of the Steel Phallus”), where penises abound on the streets in the forms of sculptures, veggie carvings and even lollipops. Here, you can see Ms. Igarashi actually posing with one. That picture speaks 400,000 words. It says it all. So far, for her endeavors depicting vaginas, Ms. Igarashi has been in jail twice.
Personally? The only “obscenity” I see here is in the double standard.
*-Soundtrack for this post is “Woman Is The Nigger Of The World” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono from “Some Time In New York City.” Published by Universal Music Publishing Group and Downtown Music Publishing and Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
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