「ろくでなし子」さん*1の文章は以前から時々ネットで読んでいた。だから、彼女が逮捕された*2という報道を読んだときは、吃驚した。逮捕されたという事実よりもそれを伝えるメディアの表現に。
偶々『産経』の記事を提示したけれど、私が最初に読んだのは他社の記事だったのだが、まあ似たようなものだった。「自称芸術家」という表現は警察発表からの天下りらしいが、さすがに堀江貴文*3や鴻上尚史*4といった人々が批判している。
女性器３Ｄデータ公開、逮捕の自称芸術家の女「自分にとっては手足と一緒」産経新聞 7月14日(月)14時56分配信
インターネット上に自身の女性器の３Ｄデータを掲載し、ダウンロードさせたとして、警視庁保安課は、わいせつ電磁的記録頒布容疑で、東京都世田谷区野毛、自称芸術家、五十嵐恵容疑者（４２）を逮捕した。同課によると、「わいせつ物とされるのは納得がいかない。自分にとっては手足と一緒」と容疑を否認している。
３Ｄデータをわいせつ物と認定して立件するのは全国で初めて。データは数字や文字が並んでいるだけだが、３Ｄプリンターで形状を再現できることから、同課はわいせつ物に当たると判断した。
五十嵐容疑者は「ろくでなし子」のペンネームで活動。３Ｄプリンターで作成した自身の性器の模型を使ったボートや人形などの作品を作成し、個展を開催していた。昨年１０月以降、活動資金を寄付した男性ら３０人以上に性器のデータを送付していたとみられる。
逮捕容疑は３月２０日、ネット上に自分の性器の３Ｄデータを掲載し、香川県の男性（３０）らにダウンロードさせたとしている。
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20140714-00000527-san-soci
そうしたなかで、面白かったのは『ガーディアン』の記事。
なお「ろくでなし子」さんは既に「釈放」されている*13。
Vagina selfie for 3D printers lands Japanese artist in troubleMegumi Igarashi, aka Rokudenashiko, arrested for emailing digital template of her genitalia to supporters of her art
Justin McCurry in Tokyo
theguardian.com, Wednesday 16 July 2014 04.28 BST
Last month it took more than 20 firefighters to free a US student who had become trapped inside a giant sculpture of a vagina in Germany*5. But genital art elicited a very different response in Japan this week, when police arrested an artist for distributing data that enables recipients to make 3D prints of her vagina.
The artist, who works under the pseudonym Rokudenashiko – which roughly translates as “good-for-nothing girl” – was arrested after emailing the data to 30 people who had answered a crowd-funding request for her recent artistic venture: a kayak inspired on her own genitalia she calls “pussy boat”, according to Brian Ashcraft at the gaming website Kotaku*6.
The artist, whose real name is Megumi Igarashi, was held in custody in Tokyo on suspicion of breaking Japanese obscenity laws. Media reports said Igarashi, 42, denied the allegations*7. She pointed out that had not sent images of her vagina in return for money and did not recognise the scanned 3D data as obscene.
Kyodo quoted unnamed police sources as saying Igarashi had collected about 1m yen in exchange for the data.
While Igarashi's art has a fun-loving and cheeky theme, her situation is serious as far as the law is concerned: if convicted she could receive up to two years in jail or a fine of as much as 2.5 million yen (£14,300/US$24,500), according to her lawyer.
Commentators have pointed out the hypocrisy of her arrest, which comes soon after Japanese authorities resisted pressure to ban pornographic images of children in manga comics and animated films*8.
The activist Minori Kitahara said police raided Igarashi's office and seized 20 of her artworks. "Japan is still a society where those who try to express women's sexuality are suppressed, while men's sexuality is overly tolerated," she said.
Igarashi has made a name for herself with her Decoman “Decorated Vagina” series of sculptures*9. The titles of the works incorporate the word “man”, from manko, the Japanese for vagina. Igarashi said she was once asked not to use the word Decoman during a TV appearance.
Because female genitalia were “overly hidden” in Japanese society, “I did not know what a pussy should look like*10,” she said in an online post. “I thought it was just funny to decorate my [moulded] pussy and make it a diorama, but I was very surprised to see how people get upset to see my works or even to hear me say manko.”
One of the works, described as a “vaginal battle scene”, shows a group of toy soldiers taking cover in an unmistakeably pudic crevice; another diorama titled Fukushiman – a “taboo on top of taboo” – shows workers at the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in similar surroundings.
She has also designed iPhone covers and recently posted an image of Gundaman, a figurine based on the popular anime character Gundam, sporting an oversized vagina, according to the Japanese art and design website Spoon & Tamago*11 .
Igarashi has said she is on a mission to “demystify” female genitalia in Japan, a country where thousands flock to an officially sanctioned annual penis festival in Kawasaki every April*12.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/15/vagina-selfie-for-3d-printers-lands-japanese-artist-in-trouble
*1:http://6d745.com/ See eg. http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%8D%E3%81%8F%E3%81%A7%E3%81%AA%E3%81%97%E5%AD%90
*2:See eg. Reuters “Japanese vagina selfie artist vows legal battle against obscenity charges” http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/16/japanese-artist-igarashi-vagina-selfie-arrest-legal-fight
*3:http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20140715-00001792-bengocom-soci
*4:http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20140720-00001822-bengocom-soci
*5:Philip Oltermann “US student is rescued from giant vagina sculpture in Germany” http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/23/us-student-rescued-giant-vagina-sculpture-germany
*6:Brian Ashcraft “Vagina Artist Arrested in Japan” http://kotaku.com/vagina-artist-arrested-in-japan-1604550217 http://6d745.com/en-campfire/
*7:http://mainichi.jp/select/news/20140714k0000e040217000c.html is referred.
*8:Justin McCurry “Japan bans real-life child sexual abuse material but cartoons remain legal” http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/05/japan-bans-real-life-child-sexual-abuse-material-but-cartoons-remain-legal
*9:See http://6d745.com/gallery/
*10:http://6d745.com/en-campfire
*11:Johnny “Japanese Artist Megumi Igarashi Arrested for 3D Printed Artwork Based on Her Vagina (nsfw)” http://www.spoon-tamago.com/2014/07/14/megumi-igarashi-3d-printed-vaginal-art-arrested/
*12:Alan White “Did You Know That Japan Has A Completely Ridiculous Penis Festival Once A Year?” http://www.buzzfeed.com/alanwhite/did-you-know-that-japan-has-a-completely-ridiculous-penis-fe See also http://d.hatena.ne.jp/sumita-m/20061020/1161326515
*13:See eg. 「女性漫画家「ろくでなし子」さんが釈放――勾留に対する「準抗告」が認められる」http://www.bengo4.com/topics/1813/ Agence France-Press “Japanese artist released following arrest over vagina selfie for 3D prints” http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/18/japanese-artist-released-arrest-vagina-selfie-3d-prints-megumi-igarashi
