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---
title: Police Arrest Japanese Artist for Sending Out 3D Data of Vagina
description: Japanese artist was arrested in Tokyo on grounds of obscenity for allegedly emailing design files to supporters to 3D print her vagina
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og:title: Police Arrest Japanese Artist for Sending Out 3D Data of Vagina
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twitter:title: Police Arrest Japanese Artist for Sending Out 3D Data of Vagina
twitter:description: This was a reward for those who crowd-funded her vagina kayak project
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# Police Arrest Japanese Artist Who Invited Fans to 3-D Print Her Genitalia

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by 

[Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/)


## Laura Stampler


Jul 15, 2014 3:15 PM UTC

by 

[Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/)


## Laura Stampler


Jul 15, 2014 3:15 PM UTC

A Japanese artist who specializes in vaginally inspired art has been[ arrested in Tokyo](http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/pussy-galore-japanese-woman-arrested-distributing-3d-printer-file-her-genitals-1456723) on grounds of obscenity for allegedly emailing design files to her supporters so that they could print 3-D renderings of her genitalia. Or as [_The Guardian_ calls it](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/15/vagina-selfie-for-3d-printers-lands-japanese-artist-in-trouble), a “vagina selfie.”

Megumi Igarashi, who works under the name Rokudenashiko, had started a crowd-funding project to create a kayak designed after her vagina. The design files were supposed to be a reward for investors who backed the project.

Igarashi [wrote on her campaign’s page](http://6d745.com/en-campfire/) that she seeks funding to make her art anatomically precise. “It is extremely difficult to make precise mold. Even when successful, silicone mold will gradually deteriorate, which makes mass production difficult.”

> [](https://twitter.com/6d745/status/394317004951138304)

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested the 42-year-old artist for breaking obscenity laws _Wired_ notes [hark back to 1907](http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-07/15/3d-printed-foof-files) that prohibit the display of genitalia. But the artist argues that the data itself isn’t adult material. “I cannot understand why the police recognize the 3D data as obscene material,” she said, [according to TechCrunch](http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/15/tokyo-based-artist-arrested-for-3d-printing-her-vagina/?utm%5Fcampaign=fb&ncid=fb).

Other projects Igarishi has made designed on her vagina include a comic-book, a remote controlled car, and a lampshade.


A [Change.org petition](http://www.change.org/ja/キャンペーン/警視庁-芸術家-ろくでなし子氏-五十嵐恵容疑者-の即時釈放-2?share%5Fid=IkYCjFFcFF) has been launched to protest Igarashi’s arrest.

\[[_The Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/15/vagina-selfie-for-3d-printers-lands-japanese-artist-in-trouble)\]

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