Artist and manga-ka Megumi Igarashi is not afraid to shock, in spite of her innocent smiles. After all, this is a young woman whose artist name is Rokudenashi-ko (Good-for-nothing girl) and who calls herself a “deko-man” (decorated pussy) artist, a “pussy columnist” and who is a member of the “Japan Genitalia Art Association”.
She held a solo show in May in Shinjuku that was a quite a talking point online, not least for its colorful pictures of vaginas with faces. She also claims to have made the world’s first 3D “pussy boat”.
And this is where the trouble starts.
As first covered by Tokyo Reporter, the 42-year-old artist used Campfire (a local version of Indie Go-Go) collected lots of money to enable her fund her outlandish projects. In the end she raised double her funding target of ¥500,000 ($5,000).
Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Monday announced the arrest of a 42-year-old woman for selling data that allows for the creation of a model of her genitals, reports the Sankei Shimbun (July 14).
On March 20, self-proclaimed artist Megumi Igarashi (@6d745), a resident of Setagaya Ward, allegedly sent a link containing image data that can be read by a 3D printer to a 30-year-old male company employee in Kagawa Prefecture.
The suspect, who was charged the distribution of obscene material electronically, has reportedly denied the allegations. “I do not acknowledge that (the work) is an obscenity,” she told police.
The case is the first of its kind in Japan.
Which doesn’t surprise us at all!
Her crime was officially one of online distribution of obscene images. She was just too prolific in her output! After all, Igarashi/Rokudenashi-ko has also published books, hosts workshops and more.
Her English profile has this to say:
As an artist, I focus on my own vagina as the motif for my art.
My work is against discriminative/ignorant treatment of the vagina
My artwork is shown on this blog.
My vagina was scanned by a 3D printer and was expanded to 2-meters size as the kayak which is titled “まんぼーと (The Vagina Boat).”
I was able to row in a boat modeled after my own vagina.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.
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 self-conscious 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.
I wanted to make vagina more casual and pop. That’s how I came to make a vagina lampshade, a remote-controlled vagina car, vagina accessories, a vagina smartphone case, and so on.
Now that’s what we call avant-garde.
Here is Rokudenashi-ko in her floating vagina mold (aka pussy boat).
While Rokudenashi-ko previously attracted the attention of The Huffington Post, perhaps now she will want to keep a low profile? Or perhaps she will attract Ai Wei Wei levels of support from the public?
Oh, ever wanted to know what Gundam looks like with a pussy? Now’s your chance.
