Drawings of Rokudenashi-ko (ăăă§ăȘăć) a.k.a. Megumi Igarashi (äșćć”æ”) at the Tokyo Distrct Court on April 14th, 2015
by Twitter user @paruchinÂ
âI am innocent because neither the data for female genitals, nor my art works shaped like female genitals, are obscene.â
Rokudenashi-ko is on trial facing charges of âobscenityâ over her famous vagina kayak sculpture and the 3D Printing data of her own vagina she used in its creation. The artist is bravely challenging the charges, and has said sheâs prepared to take the case to Japanâs highest court.Â
The obscenity law in question is laid out in Article 175 of Japanâs penal code:
âA person who distributes, sells or displays in public an obscene document, drawing or other objects shall be punished by imprisonment with work for not more than 2 years, a fine of not more 2,500,000 yen or a petty fine. The same shall apply to a person who possesses the same with the purpose of sale.âÂ
The vague statute, which has been on the books since 1907, has been selectively used to prosecute all kinds of artwork deemed obscene by the authorities, from Lady Chatterlyâs Lover in 1951, to ground-breaking gay magazine Barazoku in 1975, to the male nude photography of Leslie Kee in 2013. Because the law never defines exactly what is âobscene,â the definition shifts over time and jurisdiction. Itâs a law enforced at the whim of the police, often in blatantly homophobic and misogynistic ways. The penis-worshiping Kanamara Matsuri, or the âFestival of the Steel Phallus,â for instance, exposes a deep double standard in Japanese culture regarding depictions of male anatomy and female anatomy.
Most of the time, artists, merchants, and publishers who have been targeted by the obscenity law spend a few nights in jail, pay a fine, and submit to the public shaming. In a country teeming with pornography, the obscenity law seems to exist mainly as a formality to keep artists in line with the governmentâs idea of modesty. Article 175 is the reason for the tiny black censorship bars you can see barely hiding the male anatomy in gay manga (and erotic manga in general)â an example of how the mere gesture of self-censorship is usually enough to stave off police interference.Â
Rokudenashi-ko is brazenly refusing to self-censor or to be shamed, and sheâs challenging the very notion of obscenity in her court case and in her new book, What Is Obscenity? (ăŻă€ă»ăăŁăŠäœă§ăăïŒ), available now on Amazon.co.jp!Â
Spread the word about Megumi Igarashiâs fight for justice! If she succeeds, it could lead the way to reforming âobscenityâ and freedom of speech in Japan.
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