Samurai Fart Art of Japan | 10 Min History

Japan gave us The Great Wave. It also gave us 34 feet of fart scroll! 💨

When archivists at Waseda University unrolled a 34-foot Edo-period scroll, they expected samurai, landscapes, or elegant courtly scenes. What they got was 10 meters of pure, unhinged fart battle art, and it's one of the most fascinating windows into feudal Japanese culture you'll ever find.

In this episode:

The 34-foot Waseda hēgassen scroll and what's actually in it

How fart art dates back to 12th-century Japanese monks

Why the Edo period (1603–1868) became a golden age of gag art

How flatulence scrolls were used as political satire and anti-government commentary

The fart scroll of Toba and its surprisingly pointed critique of Japan's civil war

Why sometimes… a fart joke is just a fart joke

For the Love of History is a history podcast covering world history, women's history, and weird history hosted by TK. New episodes regularly!!

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