‘It was funny to decorate my vagina’

Censorship ... Japanese artist Megumi Igarashi has been charged with obscenity for distributing 3D scans of her vagina. Picture: AFP/Yoshikazu Tsuno Source: AFP

A JAPANESE artist faces up to two years jail for distributing instructions for building a kayak shaped like her vagina.

In a case that has sparked accusations of censorship, Megumi Igarashi told a court she had done nothing wrong in giving 30 people the 3D printing code to produce their own "p***y boat".

"I am innocent because neither the data for female genitals nor my artworks shaped like female genitals are obscene," she told Tokyo District Court.

The feminist made international headlines last year for making a vagina-shaped teddy bear and figurines in a bid to fight Japan's vagina taboo.

Creative construction ... Megumi Igarashi made a 3D printed canoe from a selfie of her vagina. Picture; Facebook/Rokude Nashiko Source: Supplied

Igarashi, who goes by the name Rokude Nashiko, a slang term meaning "bad girl", was first arrested in July.

She was freed several days later following a legal appeal and after thousands of people signed a petition demanding her release.

Tokyo police arrested her again in December on three counts of distributing "obscene" data — namely CDs containing computer code make a vagina-shaped kayak.

The 43-year-old was held in custody for around a month before being granted bail.

"I have been arguing that it is strange to single out one part of a human body that every woman has [and treat it as obscene]," she told journalists and supporters after the hearing.

"Some people say my works are cheap and not even art, but that should not justify police moves to arrest me."

Japanese artist Megumi Igarashi is fighting obscenity charges. Picture: AFP/Yoshikazu Tsuno Source: AFP

Artist Megumi Igarashi holds a large mascot shaped like a vagina. Picture: AFP/Yoshikazu Tsuno Source: AFP

One of her lawyers, Takashi Yamaguchi, called the charges against Igarashi "outrageous".

"It is extremely outrageous that anybody can be arrested and forced to stand before judges because of making artworks or working as an artist," he said.

If convicted of distributing or possessing obscene materials for the purpose of selling, Igarashi could face up to two years in jail and/or a fine of as much as 2.5 million yen ($27,500).

Though Japan has a prolific pornography industry that caters to many diverse tastes, rigid obscenity laws ban the depiction of actual genitalia, which normally appear pixelated or behind black spots.

Igarashi has defended her work on her website: "I make art pieces with my vagina, which I would rather call Manko(MK). I thought it was just funny to decorate my vagina and make into a diorama, but I was very surprised to see how upset people get when they see my works or even hear me say the word Manko.

Feminist ... Japanese artist Megumi Igarashi with her tiny vagina figurines. Picture: AFP/Yoshikazu Tsuno Source: AFP

She continued: "Even when a TV station asked me to be on their show, they wouldn't dare let me say DECO-MAN because 'MAN' is from the taboo word 'Manko'. Why did I start making these kind of art pieces? It's because I had never seen the vagina of others and I was too selfconscious of mine. I did not know what a vagina should look like at the same time, so I thought mine was abnormal.

"Manko and vagina, have been such a taboo in Japanese society. Penis, on the other hand, has been used in illustrations and has become a part of pop culture. But vagina has never been so cute. Vagina has been thought to be obscene because its been overly hidden; although it is just a part of a woman's body."

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