Waterboys' Mike Scott to marry Japanese artist Megumi Igarashi

THE Waterboys frontman Mike Scott is to marry a Japanese artist who is facing prison in her homeland on obscenity charges.

Waterboys frontman Mike Scott to marry. Picture: Picasa

The Edinburgh singer met Megumi Igarashi, 44, after supporting her campaign against Japanese authorities over her controversial artworks.

Igarashi, who is known as Rokudenashiko, is Japan’s self-proclaimed “vagina artist” and has created works such as a Lady Gaga model and a full-sized kayak modelled on her private parts.

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The couple announced their engagement on a live streaming website and have even invited Japanese police and prosecutors to the wedding as a thank you for bringing them together.

Scott, 57, whose hits include The Whole of the Moon, met Igarashi for the first time in 2014, when a campaign to protest against her arrest by Tokyo police on obscenity charges caught his attention after gaining widespread international publicity.

Announcing their upcoming nuptials, Igarashi said: “I would like to thank the police from the bottom of my heart for this relationship, because it all started when news about my arrest went viral.

“For my wedding ceremony, I would like to invite the prosecutors who indicted me, as well as the police.”

Igarashi was arrested by police in July 2014 for allegedly distributing obscene materials and is currently awaiting a verdict, due next month, with the possibility of facing a £5000 fine or up to two years in prison if guilty.

Scott, who formed The Waterboys in the early 1980s, has written a song supporting Miss Igarashi called ROK ROK ROKUDENASHIKO and expressed his admiration for her in the past.

A statement on The Waterboys website said the couple will marry when Scott’s divorce to current wife Janette is finalised.

It read: “We are happy to announce that Mike Scott and his girlfriend, Japanese artist Megumi Igarashi, also known as Rokudenashiko, have become engaged.

“The date hasn’t yet been set, but they will be married once Mike’s divorce becomes final. We’d like to congratulate the lucky couple and wish them every happiness.”

The couple hope to set up home in Dublin where Scott has lived for a number of years.