"Artist Aida defiant over latest work"

Photo and text borrowed from The Japan Times, 7/28/15:

Controversial artist Makoto Aida is refusing to bow to demands that he alter a politically sensitive submission to the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo after museum chiefs and Tokyo Metropolitan Government officials deemed it unsuitable for children.

Aida, whose previous work includes pictures of naked schoolgirls on leashes and Japanese fighter planes attacking New York, was invited with his family to submit an installation for an exhibition entitled “An Art Exhibition for Children — Whose Place is this?” which runs at MOT from July 18 through Oct. 12.

The museum’s website describes the exhibition as a “summer holiday exhibition for children” that invites visitors to “stand in the spaces and ask ‘whose place is this?’ ” and features the work of four artist groups.

Aida’s installation, created with his junior high school student son Torajiro and wife Hiroko Okada and submitted under the name “The Aida Family,” includes a 6-meter-long scroll of white fabric suspended from the roof, daubed with criticisms of the education ministry in black ink.

The piece, entitled “Manifesto” and explicitly directed at the education ministry, includes phrases slamming Japan’s school system, such as “Increase the number of teachers!”

The installation also includes one of Aida’s prior works featuring the artist satirizing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a video entitled “Video of a Man Calling Himself Japan’s Prime Minister Making a Speech at an International Assembly.”

According to a July 25 post made by Aida on the blogging platform Tumblr, museum curators and metropolitan government officials contacted the artist last Thursday and Friday to demand the removal of the two pieces after a complaint was made by a visitor.

Aida states that he believes his work’s “removal is inappropriate,” and ends his blog post by asking: “Do you think I can ‘agree’ with this?”

Aida’s agent told The Japan Times on Tuesday that he had nothing to add to the lengthy post.

Museum spokesman Mitsuaki Kojo, meanwhile, denied that the museum had forced any demands on Aida and hopes to persuade the artist to alter his work.

“Rather than making a demand, we felt that the content was a little difficult given that the exhibition is aimed at children, so we asked him if he would change it,” Kojo told The Japan Times.

“It’s a summer holiday exhibition aimed at junior high school students. We were looking for something a little easier to engage with overall, and that’s what we talked to him about,” Kojo said.

“We asked him if he would change it, but he wasn’t comfortable and both sides remain far apart. He hasn’t changed anything and he still hasn’t found a way that he’s comfortable with, so we’re still looking.

“We’re not going to force him to do anything,” he continued. “We’re still trying to settle things. I don’t know if we’ll be able to do that. We won’t force anything unilaterally, but if we can’t reach an agreement, then things could be difficult.”

The metropolitan government’s Bureau of Citizens and Cultural Affairs, which oversees the museum, denied Aida’s claim that a visitor’s complaint was the reason for the museum’s stance.

“The museum and the metropolitan government were thinking the same thing,” said spokesperson Makiko Tomioka. “The exhibition is aimed at children, and we think it would be better to have an atmosphere that is more accommodating for children. This situation has not come about just because of a complaint.”

The MOT also claims that Aida’s work was completed so close to the exhibition’s opening that it left little time to address initial concerns.

“There were questions raised at the time that the work was completed,” said Kojo. “We had a private viewing on July 17, and the work was completed in a matter of days before that.”

Aida claimed on his blog that the installation is “not a political work,” and rejected suggestions it is inappropriate for children.

“The mentality of questioning things is something I believe is of the highest significance in human intelligence,” he wrote. “This is not something which we are given sudden rights to as we become official adults at the age of 20.

“It was with this thought that I began “Manifesto” and the entire layout of the exhibition. This show has not for one moment ignored the fact that it is being presented within the frame of a children’s exhibition, rather it is the result of serious consideration upon that very point.”

Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/07/28/national/artist-aida-defiant-latest-work/#.VbezsUVZG2w

"Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art forced to cover up 'obscene' photos following complaint"

Image borrowed from Twitter (@asaitakashi) via Japan Today, 8/27/14.

Story from Japan Today, 8/27/14:

When police arrested Japanese artist Rokudenashiko last month for distributing 3-D printer plans for models of her vagina, the world was at once baffled and outraged. But despite all the fuss that was raised over the artist’s arrest, it looks like the Japanese police are at it again, this time targeting the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art for an exhibition featuring nude photography by the Japanese photographer Ryudai Takano.

Though no one has been arrested, the museum made headlines after it partially covered some of Ryudai’s photographs with cloth after local police deemed the images “obscene.” However, many in Japan are questioning the legitimacy of the police actions.

The exhibit, called “Photography Will Be,” features photos from nine different photographers and is set to run until September 28. According to the museum’s website, the exhibit is intended to “[examine] our relationship to the photograph and the image.” To that end, Takano, who is known for his nude photography, contributed nearly 50 pieces, 12 of which feature male genitalia.

Realizing that not all patrons would be happy about being confronted with uncensored genitalia, the museum consulted with an attorney and decided to put a curtain up separating the photos from the others on display and included a warning explaining that the images may be unpalatable for some. A guard was even posted nearby to watch the entrance of the cordoned-off area. Nevertheless, the police showed up on August 12, almost two weeks after the exhibit opened, demanding that the 12 “obscene” photos be removed following an anonymous complaint about the exhibition.

However, rather than simply getting rid the offending photographs, the museum worked out a sort of deal with the police. Cloth was put up over the photos themselves so as to censor the images and prevent anyone from seeing anything that might be glimpsed in an everyday locker room.

Though the photographs remain, many are still upset by the police’s apparent violation of free speech – including Shuji Takahashi, one of the museum’s curators. Takahashi explained that he did not want to engage in self-censorship, but had little choice since he would otherwise face arrest. For his part, Takano explained that there were basically three ways they could deal with the situation: 1) Continue with the exhibit unchanged, 2) Replace the photos in question with “safe” photos, or 3) Cover up the offending aspects of the photos.

Since letting the museum staff be arrested was out of the question for Takano, he immediately rejected the first option. He also felt that the second option was equally unacceptable as it would imply that they agreed with the police. The third option, though not ideal, would allow Takano to communicate his protest to patrons without anyone ending up in handcuffs.

By partially covering the photos, Takano is signalling to patrons that the police have become involved – though we imagine that most museum-goers have heard about the incident already. However, Takano’s choice to cover up the “obscene” portions of the photos is not without precedent – in an email sent to and posted by webDICE, the photographer references Seiki Kuroda, a Meiji- and Showa-era painter. Kuroda painted in the Western style and spent many years abroad studying a style that was, at the time, quite foreign to Japan. Upon his return from France, the painter opened an exhibit, including a technically excellent female nude which drew outrage. Takano was apparently inspired by Kuroda’s choice to add a “loincloth” to the painting as a way to deal with critics.

While many were displeased with the police deeming works of art in a museum “obscene,” there is another aspect to the case that has people’s ire up: A lack of transparency. In addition to the obscenity charges being a violation of free speech and free expression rights, the anonymous reporting and sudden appearance of the police demanding the photos be removed is troubling for many, including Takahashi. He explained that the anonymous complaint was frustrating–if the patron had reported it to the museum staff, they would have been able to explain the work to the patron.

But even more troubling for Tohoku University professor Tarou Igarashi is how easy it is for anonymous complaints to cause trouble. “If you wanted to make accusations against a work of art, there are a number of easy ways to do so,” he told Yahoo! Japan News.

A Change.Org petition created by fellow photographer Takashi Arai has received over 3,100 signatures since it appeared online. The petition maintains that the police are legally unable to demand the photos be taken down, and dismisses the idea that any of the photos are obscene.

Source: http://www.japantoday.com/category/arts-culture/view/aichi-prefectural-museum-of-art-forced-to-cover-up-obscene-photos-following-complaint

“Photography Will Be” website: http://www-art.aac.pref.aichi.jp/eng/exhibition.html

Click here for Change.Org petition.

CENSORSHIP, MEDIA AND LITERARY CULTURE IN JAPAN: FROM EDO TO POSTWAR

Announcement from H-Japan:

CENSORSHIP, MEDIA AND LITERARY CULTURE IN JAPAN: FROM EDO TO POSTWAR
International Symposium at Columbia University, March 6-7, 2009

This two-day international symposium takes both diachronic (historical) and synchronic (cross-media) approaches, seeking to bring recent research on early modern censorship into dialogue with studies of 19th and 20th century Japanese literary and visual culture. The symposium begins with Edo-period print culture and kabuki theatre, examines prewar literature, analyzes newsreels and popular visual materials from World War II through the Occupation period, and finally concentrates on Occupation-period literature, film, and popular culture.

Registration is required.
RSVP by February 27 to donald-keene-center@columbia.edu