He-gassen

He-gassen
Japanese: 屁合戦
See adjacent text.
A small section of the scroll.
ArtistUnknown artist
YearEdo period
Dimensions29.6 cm × 1003.1 cm (11.7 in × 394.9 in)

He-gassen (Japanese: 屁合戦, lit.'Fart competitions'), or Hōhi-gassen (放屁合戦, lit.'Fart fight'), are titles given to a Japanese art scroll,[1] created during the Edo period (1603–1868) by an unknown artist or several unknown artists[2][3][4] depicting flatulence humor.

He-gassen is a subject occasionally depicted in Japanese art, first attested at the end of the Heian Period (794–1185). Toba Sōjō (1053–1140), in addition to his famous Scrolls of Frolicking Animals, is also mentioned as having painted scrolls on themes such as "Phallic Contest" and "He-gassen."[5][6]

  1. ^ "japanese-fart-scrolls-prove-that-human-art-peaked-centuries-ago". io9.com. 20 February 2012. Archived from the original on 21 February 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  2. ^ "he-gassen-japan-edo-period-fart-scrolls". www.spoon-tamago.com. 7 January 2015. Archived from the original on 21 March 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  3. ^ "The Internet Has Officially Discovered The Most Epic Fart Battle In All Of Art History (NSFW)". www.huffingtonpost.com. 23 January 2014. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017.
  4. ^ "Japanese-fart-battle". wtfarthistory.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  5. ^ Hosogaiya, Atsushi (2019). "Contents Stream from Emakimono and Ezoushi to Manga". Journal of the Imaging Society of Japan. 58 (5): 513–522.
  6. ^ Yano, Akiko (2013). "Historiography of the "Phallic Contest" Handscroll in Japanese Art". Japan Review (26): 59–82. JSTOR 41959817. The pertinent discussion is on pages 59-61, citing Kokon Chomonjū (completed in 1254) as the source text that makes the connection between Toba Sōjō and the Phallic Contest theme.