I was doing research for another post a while back, and found something a bit…unusual. It was an old Japanese scroll about farting.
No, you didn’t misread that last sentence. The whole scroll, which is called He-Gassen (“The Fart Battle”) is just about people farting. Farting at other people, farting at cats, farting off of horses, farting into bags; just farting everywhere.
Why? I couldn’t really tell you. I’ve tried to do some research but, believe it or not, academic literature on Japanese farting is surprisingly few and far between.
I found some relevant articles on my old university’s academic databases, but the only way I could obtain them would be to request them printed out and go pick them up. Which, you know, isn’t something I really want to do.
I can only imagine what it would be like if I went back to school to pick up my fart literature:
“Hi, how can we help you?”
“I’m here to pick up some articles I put on hold.”
“Sure, what are they about?”
“Well, they’re, um, about farting.”
“…”
I did find out enough to know that this isn’t the only farting scroll out there in existence – in fact, in the 90s, a collection of fart scrolls sold for $1,500 at the famous Christie’s auction house. I am not making this up.
I also found out that the famous uikyo-e artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi also dabbled in fart art, painting a piece depicting dudes farting at each other.
Perhaps the greatest piece of this farting scroll is a giant panorama of four dudes farting into a building, and the chaos ensuing within. Click on the picture below for the full-sized version because really, it’s not something you wanna miss out on.
In the end, I think I tried to read too far into this. I kept expecting to find some deep cultural explanation as to why these guys made whole scrolls about farting. But I think it really just boils down to one universal truth: farts are funny.
We can pretend that our senses of humor are more sophisticated than that, but let’s face it: when somebody lets one rip, you’re going to chuckle.
And, as if this wasn’t enough, we made a video for this too. Conspiracy? Maybe. Aliens? Definitely.
(Originally found on Naruhodo. You can find the rest of the fart scroll, in its entirety, on Waseda University’s website here.)
Saturday Timewaster is a weekly post that features Japanese videos, music, images, or games that will certainly waste your time (some weeks more than others). We hope you enjoy!
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You are not doing these historic images right by censoring the nudity with those stupid black bars. Lame.
This is purely awesome. Thank you for sharing!
You wasted your own time. Who FORCED you to read this?
this is funny????
These artists must have been hella bored. Where do you find all this weird stuff?
What’s up with censoring the art? Would you be placing a censor bar over the statue of David?
farting is less offensive than drawn genitalia?
Not quite clear on that last scroll. Is the dude farting AT the tree, or is the tree flying out his ass? If the latter, that’s some punk rock fiber intake.
yeah, who censored the nudity here?
My guess is that these were done because kids liked them. An ancient Winnie the Pooh (no pun intended, I swear). However, I don’t really have any idea what I’m talking about.
I’m here because of Stephen Fry.
Shintaro Kago..?
OMIGOD! The japanese were experimenting with FARTS as a way for nuclear war… But seriously I need to show my friend this. We were having a debate about farts and if you can actually capture the smell. I like their bag idea.
:D
I just tweeted: So,,,I guess you could call them the original “kamikaze” (divine wind)!
Kim-chee is Korian food…
I thought Kim-chee was Korean…
Come on! I’m a Japanese living in England and English food makes me fart much more than Japanese food!!
The blocking is extremely offensive indeed.
Funniest thing I’ve seen for ages. The busted screen is a killer. Thanks for opening my … eyes. Thanks also to @stephenfry for the Twitter heads up. :)
My new favorite thing!
I want to know more about context, but I bet the artists responsible for these pieces drew them hoping people would be amused by them centuries later.
very close to bollocks
OMG…I knew it!!
Does that mean that I…
I’m…
Oh no! My massive fartablity does have a reason to exist!
I just knew it!!
I’m a UFO fuel generator!
anyone find it odd that all the nipples and genitals are blocked out? Really? It’s ok to show fart clouds, but not the parts of our bodies we were born with. You yanks have a f**ked up culture lol.
Around when were these scrolls written?
Better out than in eh?
onaka dozo
to all the haters, nobody forced you to read it
Damn, I want them for my wall!!!!!
Priceless!
You’re both right. If you’re used to eating any kind of food and then switch then you’re inside are gonna want to adjust :)
Was it really necessary to block censor the genitals?
Lame.
That`s the real “HADOUKEN“
Ninjas, as everyone knows, were silent, but deadly.