Japan’s ‘vagina kayak artist’ defiant as prosecutors seek fine

A Japanese artist charged with obscenity for distributing a design for a kayak shaped like her vagina scoffed on Monday at a demand by prosecutors to punish her with a $6,600 fine. Megumi Igarashi vowed to appeal if found guilty in a case that has sparked accusations of heavy-handed censorship in a country known for its multi-billion-dollar pornography industry but where actual depictions of genitalia are banned. Tokyo police arrested her on three counts of distributing “obscene” data – namely CD-ROMs containing computer code for a 3D printer that would allow users to make copies of the vagina-shaped kayak.

And if I am found guilty, I will of course continue fighting.

Megumi Igarashi

Prosecutors on Monday demanded that she be fined 800,000 yen (about $6,600) at a hearing at Tokyo District Court. A defiant Igarashi, however, said that she was resigned to the fact that prosecutors will probably appeal the case if she is found not guilty in May when the verdict will be handed down. Takashi Yamaguchi, one of Igarashi’s lawyers, said that the prosecution was intent on making an example of Igarashi ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. "I believe the Olympics is definitely one of the factors" behind the decision to seek such a hefty fine, he added.

Japan kayak