[1] Rokudenashiko considers it her mission to reclaim female genitalia as part of women's bodies and demystify them in Japan's male dominated society, where she believes that they are "overly hidden" and marginalized as “taboo” and “obscene” in comparison to phallic imagery.
[2] In 2014, Rokudenashiko was arrested following the creation of Man-Boat (short for manko boat), a kayak with an opening attachment modeled after a 3-D scan of her own vulva, for which she drew financial support from an online crowdfunding platform.
[11] Despite this achievement, the artist was discouraged by the industry's competitive dependency on reader surveys, and eventually found work at a publisher that specialized in the genre of “experiential reportage” (体験ルポ, taiken rupo), also known as reality manga.
The artist has explained that this work has formed the basis for her sculptural artworks—the genre relies on life experience as the source material for manga, using first person voice to depict real events through the eyes of the writer.
[14] She hopes to make the vulva something that is "casual and pop," declaring that in Japan, the "vagina is treated like it's something underground and hidden, so I want to industrialize and mass-produce it.
[15] Since Rokudenashiko was not exposed to many realistic depictions of women's genitalia, she decided to mold a plaster cast of her own vulva to understand the reality of what it looked like.
[13] She has used the mold to create many casts of her vulva, including a series of dioramas that draw on 19th century landscape paintings by turning the form of her own genitalia into the grounds for various landscapes—moonscapes, beaches, golf courses, riverbeds, as well as rustic cottage and church settings, among others.
[17] The artist has created many more vulva-themed works, including dioramas, a chandelier, lampshades, tissue covers, a remote control car, necklaces, iPhone cases.
[6][13] Manko-chan is a cute, personified manko with two legs and a labia articulated like a mane around a simple yet expressive face that includes a characteristic yellow clitoral “third eye.”[6] Manko-chan is featured on the cover of Rokudenashiko's 2016 book What is Obscenity?, and has been featured in the artist's newsletter, website, as well as the autographed photos she passes out at book signings and other events.
[6][15] In February 2023, Rokudenashiko established 6d745 Software, a company aimed at creating art pieces utilizing AI and web technologies.
[6] With their support, Rokudenashiko went forward with her project, spending the rest of the year creating Man-Boat, the process of which she documented in detail on her blog.
As shared with the creative agency MASSIVE in an interview, Rokudenashiko's full statement to the court was as follows:“I make fun, cheerful things that attempt to overturn prevailing perceptions of female genitalia.
While I find the whole ordeal absurd, it is precisely because of my arrest that so many more people have been able to think more seriously about the perception of female genitals and of their right to a freedom of expression, which is ultimately a good thing.
It has become impossible to establish a standard (of so-called obscenity), and this case will shut down any opportunity I may have in the future, to create other similar work.
"[8] On 8 May 2016, the court handed down a rare, mixed decision: Rokudenashiko was found not guilty of the charges related to the kayak, on the grounds that the sculpture, with its bright color and decoration, "did not immediately suggest female anatomy", in the words of the BBC report.
Many disputes about women's rights, artistic freedom, censorship, and double standards in Japan emerged due to Igarashi's arrests.
[15][32] The Daily Show host Jon Stewart noted that in Japan, female reproductive organs remain taboo while there is a festival dedicated to the penis.