#NotSurprised
#definition of sexual harassment

In Japan, KaoRi, the model and “muse” for Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki, came forward with her story of longstanding abuse and mistreatment in the art world. “I was forced into a situation where I couldn’t say no,” she writes.

As the #MeToo movement has demonstrated, the problem of sexual harassment and violence is pervasive. In Japan, the situation is even worse because many women don’t even feel that they can say “Me too.” 

We want to change that situation. We need to be able to talk about this. We want to be heard.

In May 2018, Tomorrow Girls Troop in collaboration with honeyhands launched a crowdfunding campaign to spread awareness of sexual harassment in the art industry, #NotSurprised, in solidarity with the We Are Not Surprised (WANS) movement started by artists in New York. We designed flyers with a Japanese translation of the "#NotSurprised Original Letter" and their "Definition of Sexual Harassment". Our translation is on WANS #NotSurprised website as well. 

Within about a month, our campaign raised ¥265,000 (about $2,650) from 49 individual donors, surpassing our goal of ¥200,000!

With the money from this campaign we are passing out these flyers to every single art university, museum, and big gallery in Japan for free, to achieve the goal of ending sexual harassment.

Many thanks to our collaborators at honeyhands, Hikari (editor) and Lola Rose (designer). Honeyhands is an inspiring Japanese woman-owned magazine, who post great bilingual content about feminism, wellness, LGBT issues, sex, and other issues that are still taboo in Japan, with original art, painting, photography, poetry, and more. You should check them out!
www.honeyhandsmag.com