What Makes Pussy So Problematic?

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The story behind Japanese artist Rokudenashiko’s arrest for her vagina-inspired sculptures

By Rokudenashiko

Nonfiction | Jane Wong, Koyama Press, Rokudenashiko, comic, memoir, obscenity, vagina
May 18, 2016

Japanese artist Rokudenashiko is best known for her “pussy boat,” a kayak she built modeled on the shape of her vagina, which she paddled down the Tama River in Japan in 2014. Last week, she was found guilty of obscenity. Her crime? Sending plans to 30 people who had contributed to her kayak crowdfunding campaign that would allow them to print out 3D replicas of her vagina. The Japanese government has fined her 400,000 yen (approx. $3,650).

*What Is Obscenity?* by Rokudenashiko. Koyama Press, May 2016

In her graphic memoir, What Is Obscenity? The Story of a Good For Nothing Artist and Her Pussy (Koyama Press), she asks, “In a society where one can be censored, pixelated and punished, what makes pussy so problematic?”

Rokudenashiko is making a rare States-side appearance at AAWW tonight, Wednesday, May 18, at 7pm. Come hear her alongside MariNaomi in a conversation moderated by Anne Ishii, AAWW board member and co-editor and translator of Rokudenashiko’s memoir.

To read, click images to enlarge, and click through all panels.

An excerpt from What Is Obscenity? The Story of a Good For Nothing Artist and her Pussy by Rokudenashiko (Koyama Press, 2016)

Rokudenashiko (“good-for-nothing girl” or “bad girl”) is a Japanese sculptor and mangaka. She is known for her series of decorated vulva moulds, or Deco-Man, a portmanteau of “decorated” and “manko,” which is Japanese slang for vagina. The moulds have taken the shape of dioramas, kawaii characters, and a kayak based on a 3D scan of her genitalia, which she dubbed the “pussy boat.” The scan led to her arrest in 2014 for alleged violation of Japanese obscenity laws.