Society

Japan top court rejects â€˜vagina kayakâ€™ artistâ€™s obscenity appeal

Jul 17 (Japan Times) - The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected an appeal made by an artist against a lower court ruling that found her guilty of obscenity for distributing 3D scans of her own genitalia to supporters in 2013 and 2014.

The top court’s No. 1 Petty Bench turned down a claim of innocence by 48-year-old Megumi Igarashi, who works under the pseudonym “Rokudenashiko” (“Good-for-nothing girl”), that the distribution was “part of her artistic activities.” She will be fined Â¥400,000 ($3,740) as ordered by the lower courts.

Igarashi claimed that the data distribution “provided an opportunity for supporters to create something with the data and participate in producing artwork through donations,” and was therefore “artistic.”

Whether the data was obscene “should be determined after making (the images) visible through projecting them onto a screen or printing them out,” the Supreme Court said.

Upholding the Tokyo District Court and Tokyo High Court rulings in 2016 and 2017, the top court added the supporters’ participation should not be placed under consideration.

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