Last summer, a local Japanese businessman from Okuizumo-cho (Okuizumo town) in Shimane-ken, Shimane Prefecture donated a 5-meter (16-foot) tall replica of Michelangelo's sculpture 'David', as well as one of the armless 'Venus de Milo'.
Nice.
These statues were placed outside during the summer of 2012 in a large public park - a public park that has a baseball stadium, tennis courts, running track, a mountain-bike course and a playground.
Sounds like a very nice park.
But here's the thing.
Because the statue of David depicts a nude man, and the Venus de Milo also unclothed, local residents feel the statutes are in poor taste - what with all of their naughty bits in full display, and suggest the statues—replicas of iconic global masterpieces known the world over—should have to wear underwear, so as to not offend.
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| This picture taken by the Okuizumo town government on August 28, 2012 shows a replica of Michelangelo's David. (Okuizumo government/AFP/File, Okuizumo government.) |
"Some people have told the town's legislators that toddlers are afraid of the statues because they are so big and they appeared unexpectedly over the summer," explains Morinaga Yoji Morinaga, a town official.
"They are statues of unclothed humans, and such pieces of art work are very rare in our area. Some people apparently said the statues might not be good for their children," says Morinaga.
Japan - It's a Wonderful Rife assumes that the fear of nudity is not based on any racism, but rather the fact that this is a small town with not quite 15,000 people. Yes, many have probably never seen huge gaijin wang or a pair of bare sweater puppets this huge, but the fear could have more to being uncultured (says the guy jokingly using the term 'wang' et al.)
"It is the first time we have had anything like this in our town. Perhaps people were perplexed," wonders Morinaga to no one in particular.
Morinaga seems cool. He doesn't think these statutes should be covered up, and thinks that his town's residents will come around and appreciate the art, which might become a Japanese attraction.
Come one - come all! We've got naked women! We've got naked men! Gaijin in all their glory! Must be seen to be fully appreciated!
It's not just an Okuizumo thing. This town should not bear the brunt of this burden thrust upon them. Most places would jump at free art, though I do wonder why people want to see replicas of artwork. Having said that, I did indeed see the Rodin works in Tokyo because one never knows when one will get a chance to travel to art's original locale. That's me being too lazy to look up where the original Rodin pieces are situated.
It's not like this small Japanese town is a highbrow center of art appreciators - of gaijin art appreciators - it's not as cosmopolitan as say Tokyo or Osaka... it's a small town. And that's okay.
But even then, Japan has some whacked out pornography laws. Earlier this week Tokyo-based photographer, the Singaporean Leslie Kee was arrested for selling books containing pictures of male genitals.
Kee, 41, whose subjects have included Lady Gaga and Beyonce, could be jailed for up to two years and/or fined up to ¥2.5 million yen (~US/Cdn $26,600) if convicted of obscenity.
As most people are aware, Japan produces a hell of a lot of pornography that is also widely distributed throughout Japan and the globe, but Japanese law says genitals must be covered. In magazines, it is scratched out, in videos it is pixelated, in comic books it is erased or not drawn in.
Now, while the objectors to the statues in Okuizumo are just saying the statues genitals or the statue's mere size is intimidating to toddlers, no one has actually called the art pornographic. Yet.
Since one can't do any of those things methods of cover up to a marble statue, the addition of underwear is a suggestion. Not by me, of course.
If not underwear, at least we know David would look good in jeans.
Now... I actually figured there was going to be a problem with men climbing all over the statue of the Venus de Milo to feel her up.
Oh well, to each their own.
Cheers
Andrew Joseph
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