![[OLD SEMESTER] 15-104 • Introduction to Computing for Creative Practice](https://courses.ideate.cmu.edu/15-104/f2021/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/stop-banner.png)
Megumi Igarashi, or Rokudenashiko, which means “good-for-nothing kid,” made waves in the news when she was found guilty of obscenity in 2013 and 2014. This is because of the data distribution of her 3D model, “Pussy Boat,” molded after a scan of her own vagina. The vagina is a common motif in her art, as she tries to normalize the vagina in Japanese society. Many criticized the Japanese government for her arrest because of the hypocrisy, like how the Festival of the Steel Penis is held every year in Kawasaki, filled with phallic-shaped merchandise and food. Her studio was raided by police and they confiscated her more “realistic” art pieces. What’s left of her art is “Manko-chan,” a cute little character that is, well, a vagina. Still, it’s subversive how playful her art is when the conversation around female anatomy is shrouded in shame and stigma. Last year, the Japanese Supreme Court rejected her appeal for the obscenity charge. She will be fined ¥400,000 ($3,740).
https://www.vice.com/en/article/ae5pvk/in-the-studio-with-japans-controversial-vagina-artist