Prosecutors indict vagina artist on obscenity charges

Yet manga portraying sexual assault and is "free speech."...I like Japan, but my god this is crazy.

she is certainly getting plenty of free publicity! Who thought up the word Manko chan? Pretty disgusting if you ask me.

she is certainly getting plenty of free publicity! Who thought up the word Manko chan? Pretty disgusting if you ask me.

Nowhere in the article does it say "manko-chan." Where did you get it from?

While I don't care to see anything shaped like somebody's privates, there are a lot more obscene things in Japan that should be "banned" first.

Igarashi, 42

FORTYTWO? Wow, she looks much younger.

This has been a ridiculous case, like the "no dancing law". But before people say its only Japan, look f.e. at the U.S. where a mere nipple caused an outrage a couple of years ago.

@ Thomas - read the text under the picture

@papigiulio That was in a sporting event watched nationwide by all ages. Censorship is less strong in the US: you can get uncensored porn there.

As for Igarashi, I applaud your efforts at trying to right one of the most backward laws in the civilized world.

And what exactly is 'obscene' about anatomy? A sexual organ is no more obscene than an elbow or a knee or an ankle--though once upon an unenlightened time showing an ankle was (and some parts of the world still is) thought to be obscene and even piano 'legs' were covered in cloth 'pants.' Which only goes to show how little progress has been made over thousands of years or 'civilization'. Good to see that artists are still pushing boundaries in an attempt to lower barriers and eliminate misogyny.

Funny how Japan is so advanced and yet something so plain vanilla as this can send the law into spastic convulsions.

But the Japanese court approved Igarashi’s detention, as prosecutors said they feared she would destroy evidence if released,

Typical excuse in Japan to hold people in prolonged detention! If the police didn't find it, and you know they looked EVERYWHERE in their pursuit for evidence, then how does that affect their prosecution? If they release her before the trial, and you know they will, then it was all about disrupting her life as much as possible hoping she will fall-in-line and admit to the charges. Until she does, they will put every means of pressure on her. Can't wait to see how the right's of the accused will be safeguarded under Abe's constitution or (Abe-con).

Why are they persecuting this woman? Go and catch some real criminals instead, there's plenty out there.

This is utterly ridiculous! You can go to an onsen and see a 3m penis and (I've been told) there are sculptures of pussies in women's onsens.

If there was ever a time for the women of Japan to speak the hell up, now's a good time! Obscene? You know yhis is a verdict by some oyaji, wasting tax money in some department somewhere.

I applaud her efforts, but have been here long enough to know how meek and apathetic the Japanese are. No one will protest this.

Funny how Japan is so advanced and yet something so plain vanilla as this can send the law into spastic convulsions.

Advanced technically, perhaps... Socially, they are behind most countries

Go and catch some real criminals instead, there's plenty out there.

You mean deal with the yak problem?! Whoah, that would mean actual investigations and much, much work. Better take the easy road and take care of horrendous crimes like this first.

If there was ever a time for the women of Japan to speak the hell up, now's a good time!

Excellent point. Sadly, the reality is they will sit passively around and watch the show from the sidelines, as I'm sure you know.

This smacks of patriarchal Japan and the double standards thereof. Ya just can't have bold women who are prepared to take a stand and make social commentary about those double standards when the dudes rule the schoolyard. makes em feel.....well, kinda small.

The human body is God's creation and is not obscene. The vagina and womb is a place of love and beauty. This is really not necessary.

Meanwhile it's fine in Japan to go to a penis festival and sit on a giant penis while sucking on a penis shaped candy

Yeah its crazy. Any day you can go around the cities fashion shopping areas and in broad daylight find touts soliciting women to do what ever in their yak clubs or whatever or even the handing out of doubious dating site tissues adsand without going on, yet this is such a terrible crime. Yeah makes you wonder whats wrong with these dunder heads. The whole legal system and its officers seems to have a lack of pride for the importance of the real tasks at hand.

What she's done isn't obscene. At worst some of what she's done is in poor taste.

Tasteless, trashy, cheap and nasty, vulgar and obscene publicity stunt and it is an insult to women and makes a mockery of there beauty. I am not not sure what I would charge her with though. Public mischief or nuisance perhaps.

a series of 1s and 0s are obscene?

the mind boggles...

ps i realize it would be a public relations disaster if the police arrested people for doing print outs in their own homes...so they harass her instead..

she is certainly getting plenty of free publicity!

Not exactly "free," but hey... It never fails to amaze me that officials don't seem to understand how counterproductive their attempts at censorship are in these situations.

In a country where a significant number of guys have given up on sex and women altogether, they should appreciate something like this that would potentially stimulate some interest (pun intented).

Who thought up the word Manko chan? Pretty disgusting if you ask me.

Only if you buy into the premise that there is something wrong with vaginas. And that premise is pretty disgusting if you ask me.

The prosecutor should be ashamed. At my local video store there are adult videos packaged with latex molds of the vagina of the star. Must be because the adult video business has the sanctioned imprimatur of organized crime. Heaven forbid an independent woman try to do the same for herself

Hopefully, anybody that suggests un-necessary restrictive laws on free speech can see the negative effects.

NEVER EMPOWER THE GOVERNMENT MORE THAN STRICTLY NECESSARY.

Me exploiting women = good Women exploiting themselves = bad

I know it happens all over the world.. but this constant attention on complete non issues, in this case for any number of reasons, freedom of expression, the fact that the human body is nothing to be ashamed of.. instead of dealing with the actual issue that face us.

I wish there were some progressive kick ass judges around the world that would just throw these absurd cases out...

very fanny ....she is getting all the publicity

Close down the fertility festival and the temple in Nagoya. Remember the poster of the bare-breasted guy of the Hadaka Matsuri. Somebody though it was indecent and the prohibited setting posters like that.

Meanwhile it's fine in Japan to go to a penis festival and sit on a giant penis while sucking on a penis shaped candy

My comment was removed for pointing to an article showing this, but I totally agree.

Yawn.

"very fanny ....she is getting all the publicity"

Indeed! Fanny getting some publicity . C Literally!

Try translating "manko-chan" directly into its equivalent in English here and see if the site will allow it.

This is not just some kind of problem peculiar to Japan, even if she is testing the laws on distribution here.

Try translating "manko-chan" directly into its equivalent in English here and see if the site will allow it.

I wouldn't say there is an equivalent in English. I was surprised the first time my wife used it in front of her niece, who was maybe five years old. I questioned whether this was ok to use in front of a small girl like that, and she said yes. Then she asked a couple of friends their opinions, and the general attitude was that it was ok to use.

That said, they do bleep it out on TV if/when it is used (which is almost never).

So I don't think we have a word in Japanese that really fits the nuance.

Strangerland, I'm afraid I disagree with your wife and her friends. The appropriate term a 5 year old should be using is "omata."

Many mothers use oshiri, as an extension of the rear, in order to avoid using the M word.

Double standards ftw... as Thomas Miller said, isn't porn depicting rape more obscene really? It is pretty ridiculous to show certain um fetishes and stuff in porn/ H-manga yet then blurring out the anatomy. I don't know..Japan confuses me, a lot.

Well, arrest everyone connected to the Big Penis Matsuri in Kawasaki then.

Strangerland, I'm afraid I disagree with your wife and her friends.

I guess it's a matter of opinion. They are all Japanese, so it's pretty hard to say they are wrong. You just have a different idea of what is appropriate.

The appropriate term a 5 year old should be using is "omata."

That's what she told our boy it's called when he asked.

To me, it's irrelevant what anyone's opinion of her art is. She is being persecuted, not prosecuted. For expressing her opinions with too little regard given to those who call the shots in this country.

Commanteer.

So you think that the law forbidding the show of genetals should NOT apply to her. None cares what you and others think she is in violation of Japanese law, which also banned showing punic hair till a few years ago.

Down here the word is "chin-chin", for both girls' and boys' bits.

Seems to work okay.

She need bail money or what ?

It''S ME is right. The other posters are so disrespectful to Japanese law. What on earth do they think about the rules?

And this is happening in a country where Hentai, Lolicon and Shotacon are considered normal and where young girls find it perfectly normal to present themselves to business men for a date.( Enjo kōsai )............

Hypocrites.

It!s a question of the selective and arbitrary application of the said Japanese law

The picture of the kayak was on this site, and I saw it also on BBC. It doesn't seem vulgar to me, doesn't even seem like a model as much as an 'artistic representation' of the female form (and it bright yellow, looks like a wrinkly banana boat.) Was there like a real photo or something included in the data she sent out?

Also, since people brought up the penis festival, does that mean cultural or religious affiliated have separation from this law perhaps? (I don't have a problem if that's the case, just curious. I went to a fertility shrine once and there were several penises and vagina statues, so I am guessing the rules are different)

The other posters are so disrespectful to Japanese law. What on earth do they think about the rules?

tinawatanabe - a law can be wrong and immoral. Just because something was made law years ago does not mean it needs to be treated with respect. Treating laws with the disrespect they deserve is what gets them changed e.g. civil rights movement in America or the Suffragettes in the UK who led a campaign of civil disobedience.

Many have pointed out the absurdity of the application of this law, citing the penis festivals of Japan and the fact that rape is not considered an obscene act, whereas parts of the human body are inherently obscene, despite people being willing to show these parts of the body at onsens.

I am happy that the police have charged her, because it will hold the application of the obscenity law as absurd. I hope that she is found non guilty and that this becomes a landmark case in the transformation of Japanese society to a freer society.

The Penis Festival is the last fertility festival of many that were made illegal by the US occupation forces.

As I said before all her art incorporates her private bits(sex organ), she also sells kits so that women can make copies of their private bits.

Now do you consider a penis a genetal which by definition must be accompanied by testes/balls.

Hypocrites.

Japan is not criticizing how other countries are dealing with their obsenity. So, no hypocirtes.

Go online anywhere from a Japanese IP address and you can find body parts that are not pixelated. What's the point? This law is stupid.

a law can be wrong and immoral.

Yes but it is the majority of people in the country to decide.

I think she should be imprisoned. The Penis Festival must be also stopped. The porn industry must be also controlled.

@It"S ME

So you think that the law forbidding the show of genetals should NOT apply to her. None cares what you and others think she is in violation of Japanese law, which also banned showing punic hair till a few years ago.

@tinawatanabe

It''S ME is right. The other posters are so disrespectful to Japanese law. What on earth do they think about the rules?

But I think you're both missing the point. No-one knows or is capable of knowing what the law actually is because it's so imprecise. To interpret it in such a way as to require that the replica of Michelangelo's David must wear underwear in Japan surely violates the Japanese constitution's protection of free expression. So where is the limit? If the law is unconstitutional, it's not a valid Japanese law.

[Japanese Constitution] Article 21. Freedom of assembly and association as well as speech, press and all other forms of expression are guaranteed. No censorship shall be maintained, nor shall the secrecy of any means of communication be violated.

No-thing is inherently good or bad, but thinking about it makes it so. The prosecutors are seeing a reflection of their own mind.

Heh. While I love Japan like no other country, parts of their culture are entirely inconsistent.

@It"S ME @tinawatanabe

My understanding is that Edo-era Japan did not have this silly law, or it was poorly enforced. Then it was put in by a quasi-fascist government and the US didn't do Japan a favor and take it out. I think Japan would choose art over prudery, but as with everything else they are afraid to make changes to the society on any meaningful level. In short, I don't think this can be considered a law the Japanese support but if someone has numbers to the contrary, please show them.

Funnily it is acceptable to depict rape, but not the phallus doing the raping. But then I can go to an onsen and waive my actual phallus around in front of other people and no one minds or demands that it be mosaiced.

But if I so much as rape anyone I will end up in prison.

Come on Japan, make your mind up and be consistent!

Japan is not criticizing how other countries are dealing with their obsenity. So, no hypocirtes.

Tina, this has nothing to do with other countries. This is about Japan and how Japan deals with "obscenity." Any reasonable person can conclude that it is hypocritical for this woman to be arrested and charged for "obscenity," while manga which depicts the violent assault and rape of young school children is protected as free speech. How on earth is that okay?

And going on from there; there is a statue of a naked woman in front of my station- completely naked. How is that not obscene? What about classical works such as the statue of david? It shows his genitals, but is that obscene?

If you don't read manga, you don't get to see rape in manga. 2. This woman makes obscene products and show them in public.3. She makes it from her vagina and spread the data online.4. She is making money out of this.5. J public is not complaining about her arrest. 6. She has been warned.

@thomas miller

What about classical works such as the statue of david? It shows his genitals, but is that obscene?

There was a town in the last year or two which erected a replica of David somewhere in Japan that was reported to have some local complaints BUT ..... in my town there is a set of statues I walk past on my way to work, that have a naked women and two boys. The boys genitalia are clearly visible for all the kids at the adjacent elementary to see as they walk by, but perhaps the women's are not. If this type of art is not obscene, yet the women's kayak is, I would say it is hypocritical.

If you don't read manga, you don't get to see rape in manga.

Out of sight, out of mind, right?

This woman makes obscene products and show them in public.

I haven't seen them. So they aren't really in public are they. Which means they are out of sight, and out of mind, so by your first point, this shouldn't be an issue.

She makes it from her vagina and spread the data online.

If you don't go online, you will not see her vagina online. Which makes it ok by your first point.

She is making money out of this.

They make money off rape-depicting manga. Which makes it ok by your first point.

J public is not complaining about her arrest.

Are you not reading the news? They are.

She has been warned.

So?

She is an artist and should be allowed to do her art in regard to free speech.

@It"S ME

If you are so concerned about the sanctity of Japanese law, then you should be upset at the highly selective enforcement of the law. Selective enforcement, especially when based on political stances or speech, negates the moral validity of the law.

Several commenters have already mentioned penis festivals and several far more blatant violations of the laws she is being charged with violating. Ask yourself why she was singled out?

A capable and industrious woman. I think that she could make more money if she directed her strength towards a making money out of a product or service that can lure a much larger target market. Here she seems to be wasting her time trying to create waves,causing public mischief and nuisance to some. Does she really need that?

Tht blonde wig, is it attractive at all?

I think that she could make more money if she directed her strength towards a making money out of a product or service that can lure a much larger target market.

Why does making more money have to be everyone's end goal?

Here she seems to be wasting her time trying to create waves,causing public mischief and nuisance to some.

I imagine she doesn't consider it a waste of her time, or she likely wouldn't be doing it.

Tht blonde wig, is it attractive at all?

What wig? Are you referring to her hair? That's not a wig, she just has her hair dyed.

Who are these faceless persecutors, erm, I mean prosecutors?

Japan is a strange mixture of strict behavior and wild and perverted behaviors. Megumi Chan (aka Manko Chan as her side kick) is looking so badly for people to see her 42 year old vagina and that in itself maybe obscene depending on it's condition. I wonder if she is straight or a lesbian and whether she really has had sex with anyone of is she just a 42 year old tease cause she has not shown any porn magazines the real deal for publishing.

@ Hawkeye--What effective difference does any of your questions make?

It seems all you want to do is assassinate character and totally avoid the question of the ridiculousness of this application of the law.

There is little I despise more than a tease, but that hardly has any bearing on how I view this case, even if she is one. I am not going to go supporting this silliness in some misguided glee in watching a tease suffer.

Its her human body and her human right to do with it what she wants so long as she harms no one nor threatens them with harm. Vaginas, which gave us all life, are NOT harmful to the eye!

And yet I can buy porn manga at the local convince store.

Sillygirl, if you open one, you will realize that you cannot see any vaginas in them. And its asking for sickness to me, because if your thrill is not coming from vaginas, what's it coming from? Anything but. And that means they have to work--excuse me--outside the box to thrill you. And that tends toward using violence.

But there as nothing violent about anything she did, and nothing harmful either.

The porn manga is handwritten creation, but this vagina thing is just a mold of her own vagina. Not many people want to see what 42 year old woman's vagina look like, especially of this no-good looking woman. Nobody I know are objecting her arrest.

@ tim can, megumi Igarashi thinks this media blitz is going to make her an International celebrity but in the end when she's an old woman waiting to die in some japanese nursing home for the mentally unbalanced she will only be remembered as a nut case who wants to expose her genitals. If you or I, If you are male were to make copies of our penises and try to peddle that as art or self expression we would be labeled a pervert. Why is it ok for a woman to show her privates and you defend it when a male would be considered a pervert for the same action.

dagon, I don't buy such DVD, so I don't have to see. But this woman displayed her vagina copy in public. So, if I bumped into her, I might have to look, and be forced to figure out what her real vagina look like. No thanks. And you should respect other people's opinion instead of calling me irrational. Hypocrisy is you, not me.

It never ceases to amaze me what people come up with in the name of art. Reminds me of that guy who shoved a bullwhip up his date and took a photo of it. Also, I don't like seeing the V word splashed about. It's vulgar. There are plenty of other more appropriate terms.

But this woman displayed her vagina copy in public. So, if I bumped into her, I might have to look, and be forced to figure out what her real vagina look like.

Are you referring to the kayak? Cause that thing does not look much like a real vagina. Even knowing what it was supposed to be I still had to stare to figure it out.

And even if it does offend you, gee, life must be hard! I see like 20 things everyday that offend me. Why no arrests?

dagon, I don't buy such DVD, so I don't have to see.

To have a reasonable opinion on this, yes, you do have to see something at least. Vaginas are not all that different from each other. There is no way you would be thinking "Oh my God! That vagina copy must be a copy of hers! Cause its so terrible! And scary!" No. We don't really know if its hers or someone elses. And even if it we did know, there would be no reason why that fact would change anything at all.

another example of how Japanese logic can work and how the legal system here is unfathomable.

another example of how Japanese logic can work and how the legal system here is unfathomable.

Why would they listen to some foreigners and ignore how majority of Japanese feel?

The porn manga is handwritten creation, but this vagina thing is just a mold of her own vagina. Not many people want to see what 42 year old woman's vagina look like

Sure they do. If you think otherwise, you really have no clue about men.

this no-good looking woman.

She's cute.

Nobody I know are objecting her arrest.

And you only know a small subset of society, which is very clear from your posts. Maybe no one you know is objecting, but plenty of Japanese people ARE objecting.

I don't like seeing the V word splashed about. It's vulgar.

Vagina? There is nothing vulgar about the word. Only someone who thinks there is something wrong with vaginas would think so - and thinking there is something wrong with vaginas is what is vulgar.

Megumi igarashi is a moron who thinks her vagina is different or unique compared to the other 4 billion vaginas out there and I think she is a mental case you are putting up on a pedestal like a Michelangelo in the Uffizi to view but she is only a common you know what who wants as Andy Warhol said 15 minutes of fame.

To make it clear I object to her being charged. It is a ridiculous and frivolous charge.

@strangerland. I don't think there is anything wrong them. I just don't like that word. I think that mut or the c word are better. Say the vaj word out loud many times and I think you' ll agree.

Her motivation of making those objects shaped like her vagina is the fact that she is thirsty for the D like all of the Japanese women in Japan. The fact their men do not want to have relationships with them and the fact that they have an average size penis of 1inches, can you blame her for doing it.

Sure they do.

As art or everyday things, not many want to see. It is pollution.

@ tinawatanabe

what do you base your assertion on that you speak for the majority of the Japanese?

If there is no clear evidence your claim is pretentious and arrogant.

And please note Megumi Igarashi has been indicted, she has not been convicted.

Of course you are free to believe her acts are obscene, but unless you give us a reasonable explanation for what is obscene about her art work it is just your personal feeling, nothing more and nothing less.

Anyway, I would be very curious to hear your reasonable explanation, tinawatanabe, of what is obscene about this kind of artwork in the shape of her vagina and about sending out data of 3D scans of her body to people who have donated money for realizing her artwork (please note that she is not selling anything).

Also, I don't like seeing the V word splashed about. It's vulgar. There are plenty of other more appropriate terms.

@Roosterman. I will tell the medical textbooks immediately that the anatomically correct term for a female's genitalia is unacceptable. Could you propose an alternative? Perhaps the vagina should be officially renamed the "lady garden" to protect your sensitivities.

she's an old woman waiting to die in some japanese nursing home

@Hawkeye - she is 42 so probably has 50 years left in her. You are being offensive and abusive, presumably to deflect from the weakness of your arguments.

But this woman displayed her vagina copy in public. So, if I bumped into her, I might have to look, and be forced to figure out what her real vagina look like.

@tinawatanabe - yep, that's right, her vagina is yellow, 2 metres long and is made from plastic. Have you seen this thing? It is widely available on the internet in perfectly normal news sites. In the extremely unlikely event that you were in a boat and saw the canoe, you would almost certainly not realise what it was. But if you did, so what? What is obscene about a vagina? Do you cover your eyes at an onsen?

Megumi igarashi is a moron who thinks her vagina is different or unique compared to the other 4 billion vaginas out there

@Hawkeye (again) - She has never claimed that it is different at all. However, her art is doing part of what it is designed to do - challenge and make us think. She exposes hypocrites, legal inconsistencies and bigots. Your insults suggest you are definitely in the latter camp.

As art or everyday things, not many want to see. It is pollution.

@tinawatanbe - Not sure exactly what you are trying to say, but I think I would summarise it as, "this is not real art". Well, I disagree - it is art and the fact that it somehow offends you is not relevant. It is funny that Japanese "shunga" erotic prints are shown in art galleries all over the world, but not in the country that created them - they are "obscene". What is ironic was that this change in Japanese culture happened following exposure to prudish 19th century Westerners, but while the West has moved on, Japan retains much of the prudishness it inherited from culturally insensitive Westerners!

@Ah-so. I have offered 2 alternatives and one of them isn't lady garden they are the c word or mut and you could add hairy axe wound. I didn't know I came across as being serious. Sorry. Have a laugh.

what do you base your assertion on that you speak for the majority of the Japanese?

Maybe I should say "There are many people who don't want to see"

unless you give us a reasonable explanation for what is obscene about her art work

She said she want to fill the world with her vagina products or something. It would be an environmental polution. She is 42, not 24. Not pretty. People have a right not to see obscene things in public places. People have a right to spend time peacefully when walking outside, right to demand being surrounded by comfortable things, not by some middle aged woman's vagina.

"shunga" erotic prints are shown in art galleries

You choose to enter art galeries, not to be forced into.

@roosterman

I have offered 2 alternatives and one of them isn't lady garden they are the c word or mut

I am going to assume you are not a native English speaker, so please let me teach you. I don't know about 'mut' as we don't use it in the U.S., but the c-word is very crass and vulgar, the word VAGINA is the scientific word.

@justbcuzisay. Thanks for the English lesson. I didn't know that. So I can say vagina. Feels good. No wonder people were offended when they would ask me to describe my wife. You don't know mut. It's one of my favourite's. It rhymes with put. Anyway, I hope you have a Merry New Year.

so sorry roosterman - I realized after I posted that you were not being serious, but it was too late and you know there is no edit or delete. I shouldn't read and/or comment after going out for end-of-year drinks I suppose. Happy New Year to you and thanks for your actually teaching me a new word (to avoid).

The case is in the courts where we outsiders can make fun of it.

And internationally, we'll be subjected to Penis Festivals to see how lopsided this imposed law is being adhered to.

I think a better argument for her is that it is art. I believe it is, art to shock people into debate. Which it is clearly doing. It's art therefore not illegal.

@justbcuz. No worries. I really couldn't care less about her art work but the topics of shock and freedom of speech are interesting. Some people seem very sensitive on both sides so I thought I would try to lighten things. I'm not offended easily and what comes out of my mouth would make a sailor blush. What does offend me is language that either states explicitly, or implies, racial or cultural vilification. Even on here with some people saying 'J this' and 'J that' or mocking Japanese by using a katakana pronunciation when writing is more offensive to me than using certain forms of slang to describe the human anatomy. Anyway, I hope you have a great 2015 and all your dreams come true. Peace.

Just how many of those who are against Megumi Igarashi's legitimate feminist stand have heard her speak?

How many know what principles she actually is creating art for?

Penfold wrote: '...she is certainly getting plenty of free publicity! ...'

Which for all of human history has been the primary purpose of artistic creation. It challenges the current levels of thought and on reflection looking back records the values of generations when it was created.

Conservative values are certainly a challenge for Japan in this era. I learned from Megumi Igarashi's about her anxiety of her genitals and her ignorance as a young woman about what natural women should look.

In the developed world anxiety about the female genitals is so extreme labiaplasty has become normal. Similar reasons demonising the shape and form of female genitals run even deeper in many developing cultures outside Japan.

Labiaplasty and circumcision is a serious feminist issue in more countries than many realise. I countries including highly developed Europe and North America. Women worldwide need to feel comfortable with how they were born, it is insidious that others values affect how women feel about their natural bodies.

The primary perpetrators of this shame in female genitals is the patriarchal system dominated by males and females alike. This is clear from the misogynistic comments denigrating Megumi Igarashi's legitimate feminist stand.

'To lose confidence in ones body is to lose confidence in oneself.' - Simone de Beauvoir

But that is point in a patriarchal society. Control of all females is seen as right good and proper. The primary weapon is removal of confidence.

What better place than to control the female appearance at it's most sensitive?

And manga is totally squeaky clean! have they had a look at some of this stuff? wow thats far more pornagraphic then her kayak!

There's another country famous for locking up artists... Does Japan want to be seen as a worse country than China?! I'm really quite surprised as Japan is usually so tolerant of art and sex.

It is absolutely despicable that she was locked up for a month without charge. I suspect a conspiracy by some group of right wingers to torment her.

Kanamara Matsuri? Google it.

I still say leave her alone!!! She has not hurt anyone!

Prosecutors indict vagina artist on obscenity charges

Hope it gets resolved and I hope that artistic expression doesn't get a black-eye because of this.

Art is art.......

WhatMeWorry wrote:

'...she was locked up for a month without charge. I suspect a conspiracy by some group of right wingers to torment her.'

What are the probabilities this is real?

From this perspective it is highly probable this is orchestrated by those who fear gender equality.

WhatMeWorry wrote:

'...I suspect...some group...'

What are the probabilities it's the current reactionary government minister whose portfolio of responsibility touches Megumi Igarashi's art?

@ Paul Richards

What are the probabilities it's the current reactionary government minister whose portfolio of responsibility touches Megumi Igarashi's art?

Extremely low.

This case is about establishing the legality of 3d data.

That's it.

Up until now, the law has been that you can't display a photo of your genitals in public, because it's obscene. The courts have long since ruled on the boundary between art and pornography in that situation.

3d data is a new phenomenon, and as such it sits in a grey area of the law. We've already seen 3d printed guns sent to the courts to sort out, and now we're seeing this. The courts will rule, a precedent will be set, and society will move on. That's how it works. We will see other examples of this kind of thing over the next few years, guaranteed.