Traditionally, oriental scrolls usually depict vast landscapes with mountains hovering in the background, flowers in bloom and rivers flowing gracefully. There is no shock value to these paintings, what you see is what you get. However, an unknown artist decided to stray away from the ordinary and captured the ‘He-Gassen’ or the Fart War.
Originally from the Edo period, scholars at Waseda University in Japan has unraveled a collection of ‘Fart’ scrolls. They depict an assortment of people letting out their gas and using it as a weapon against their foes. Those curious folks and those who appear by coincidence suffer the rotten consequences. It is funny to see the expressions on their faces and the ‘mind blowing’ capabilities of this kind of gas. In fact, it can make a tree branch crumble and sweep someone off their feet.
These Japanese fart scrolls are naughty and comical but I don’t think anyone would be proud to have these in their homes.
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