JAPANESE ARTIST FOUND GUILTY OF OBSCENITY FOR DISTRIBUTING 3-D SCANS OF HER VAGINA
On Monday, Megumi Igarashi, a Japanese artist who works under the pseudonym Rokudenashiko, was fined almost $3,800 in a Tokyo district court after she was found guilty of distributing obscene images, Justin McCurry of The Guardian reports.
The artist was first arrested in July 2014 after she distributed 3-D scans of her vagina. Igarashi sent the data to anyone who donated $25 to her crowdsourcing campaign, which raised funds that she used to build a kayak modeled after her genitals. She was released shortly after following an appeal and a public petition. However, she was arrested again in December 2014 for displaying plaster figures of her vagina and selling the 3-D scans on CDs.
According to Kyodo News, Judge Mihoko Tanabe said that the data realistically portrayed the shape of a vagina and could “sexually arouse viewers.” Igarashi was fined only about half of the sum that prosecutors were demanding. She was also cleared of obscenity charges relating to the sale of plaster versions of her kayak in an adult store.
Igarashi has argued that her artworks are not obscene. She said that she will appeal the court’s ruling.
