High court upholds obscenity ruling against 'vagina artist'

In a country with thousands of porn films -half of them of the weirdest kind-, soaplands and teenagers prostitution, the Tokyo High Court finds this punishable!

The land of fetishising children, weird porn and penis shrines doesn't like looking at vaginas. Double standards.

Misogyny at its finest.

The lower court ruled that the 3-D data “realistically reproduce the shape (of female genitalia) and stimulate the viewers’ sexual desire,”

So what she did was illegal but all the pixelated porn out doing the same thing (stimulating viewers) is okay? WOW Japan, you need to get your sh!t together and deal with more important things. Art is art and porn is porn. Sometimes the lines get fuzzy but this woman getting charged for this this makes Japan look like it's stuck in the 1930's. Very sad!

In a country with thousands of porn films

But the "actresses" in all of those films were "forced" to expose their "equipment", this lady WANTS her stuff out there for some god-forsaken reason

Stupid and ridiculous ruling. Agree with all the above posters.

Meanwhile, giant dings are paraded about, stroked suggestively and used as a backdrop for photos with friends and children in "fertility" festivals.

*dongs

the best response to this is that all women make 3D scans of their butterflies and anonymously distribute the stuff over the internet.

second point: i imagine all those magistrates or whatever they are called, that voted for punishment, watch porn and look intensely at the displayed vaginas

"The lower court ruled that the 3-D data “realistically reproduce the shape (of female genitalia) and stimulate the viewers’ sexual desire,” but the artworks do not immediately suggest they are female genitals as they are decorated and painted with colors different from skin color."

Not sure if this is just nuts or laughable.

The law is an ass!

UNBELIEVABLE...

I'd like to know what the outcome would be if the artist was "male". Also, the article says "The three artworks were displayed in an adult entertainment shop" Isn't that the kind of things they show in those shops?

It is art not porn. But I am sure the oyaji in the courts have a very limited view of women. It is obscene that a country can have so much sex related industry, penis festivals, so much sexual exploitation of young girls and still be pissed off at an artist. Priorities here are ass backwards on this ruling. Just shows their profound ignorance of art and overt disregard for women.

The world is turning prudish.

How many ancient art-works now need to be partially coveted as those parts offend people. On the same token many previous pieces of art are now classed as porn.

Your body is obscene! Be ashamed! Be very ashamed!

paulinusa -

........."The lower court ruled that the 3-D data “realistically reproduce the shape (of female genitalia) and stimulate the viewers’ sexual desire,” but the artworks do not immediately suggest they are female genitals as they are decorated and painted with colors different from skin color."..............

Not sure if this is just nuts or laughable.

Totally agree with your sentiments, altho i think it's just plain nuts - as nutty as can be.

I guess this is what happens when you try to express yourself or ideals in Japan. I believe she was doing it from an artistic point of view. There's nothing wrong in that.

Hang on, last night I used a toy that was moulded from a woman's genitals that I bought it Akihabara. Why can they be sold?? Japan; a great place...if you're a Japanese man.

The lower court ruled that the 3-D data “realistically reproduce the shape (of female genitalia) and stimulate the viewers’ sexual desire,” but the artworks do not immediately suggest they are female genitals as they are decorated and painted with colors different from skin color.

It's a strange ruling as I imagine the artworks also “realistically reproduce the shape (of female genitalia)", even though they are not skin coloured. If so, how can she be punished for distributing the 3-D data, which is also not skin coloured?

Japan’s Penal Code prescribes a maximum sentence of two years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to 2.5 million yen for distributing obscene objects.

Japan's Penile code on the other hand usually takes a more lenient view on such matters.

This is Absurdistan at it'd very finest.

Completely ridiculous, completely inconsistent. I ate a Vagina lolly last year, from one of those festivals that celebrate bits. They are about equally offensive, which is to say not at all.

Dumb.

Japan’s Penal Code prescribes a maximum sentence of two years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to 2.5 million yen for >>distributing obscene objects.

She distributed 3D digital data it seems, not an object, I am surprised the lawyer did not challenge this...

Puzzling... If all Japanese are equal under the law and there is a penis festival with vendors selling phallic shaped candies and trinkets is legal, how is a digital plan for building a canoe with a hooded by a vagina shaped object illegal. Oh yeah, I forgot.... Japanese genitals are owned and copyrighted by the nation of Japan, any reproduction, use, or use of any reproduction must be approved by the nation of Japan.

But the "actresses" in all of those films were "forced" to expose their "equipment", this lady WANTS her stuff out there >>for some god-forsaken reason

Is is Japanese way of thinking to oppress people who are doing no harm while accepting (when not promoting) practices of forced sex ?

An obscene ruling using an obscene law by obscene judges.

An obscene ruling using an obscene law by obscene judges.

There are many female judges.

Will she describe occupation as 'vagina artist' when she apply for Visa?

Ridiculous. They have giant statues of penises throughout the Kanamara Festival every year with little girls sucking on penis candy on a stick, but this is obscene?!

In some ways I am glad that the conviction was upheld if only for highlighting the absurdity of Japan's obscenity laws and its inability to distinguish between art and pornography.

But clearly the best result would have been to have had the conviction quashed.

I also find it difficult to understand how the human body can be inherently obscene. And does this law extend to medical textbooks? If not, why not?

The beauty of the human body, and the parts that create us, are "obscene" and punishable by a large fine and possible jail time, but when a group sexually assaults a woman? suspended sentence. Possession of kiddie porn? Allowed! gang rape comics and cartoons? encouraged under freedom of expression? Children as sex objects? right next to the ice cream in your local convenience store, at eye-level for the kids to see.

Well done, japan.

I guess if she had described it as 3D printable headpiece for Male masturbation devices (such as https://www.dailydot.com/debug/autoblow-2-sex-toy/) , then she wouldn't have gotten into trouble.

Though seriously speaking, Japan needs to revise the Obscene publications Law, it's clearly outdated, and gender biased. Posting pictures of inanimate objects would also fall foul of this law,so I gues Roppongi's Cafe 8 better warn its Customers not to take photographs - such as http://boingboing.net/2010/02/08/the-penis-shrine-nsf.html, as to any PDF of a medical book containing pictures (pictures are simply data).

"Art" should be considered a democratic right to be free from Censorship within any civilized Nation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagina_and_vulva_in_art

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megumi_Igarashi

Isn't Japan a progressive country? Seems not...

Obviously, the Court judges have forgotten where they came out of....

A local Don Quijote sells phalus-shaped (the same color as white or Asian skin) bottle openers. They are very realistically shaped and sold for a few hundred yen. Why is this allowed and Igarashi Megumi's work is not??? These bottle openers are not sold in a sex shop, the shop is in the middle of Tokyo, and many families with children visit it. How do such things become acceptable and normalized while at the same time female genitalia-shaped is mostly absent (apart from on a few special occasions such as special fertility festivals)?

Maybe the female judges were... TRIGGERED!!!

Who knows!? rolls eyes

Appalling.

About half of all people on Earth have one of these.

I hope they don't look!

The high court is the lowest, with its shameless record of 99% stamping whatever the first court said. May God punish you all.

Its amusing in a country where porn is freely available this is what is deemed offensive.