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Japanese Color Woodblock Print
Kappa no he from the series Kyosai Hyakuzu
by Kawanabe Kyosai, c. 1863-1866

This print depicts a legendary kappa (water-imp) farting, sending two fishermen flying.  While the literal translation of Kappa no he 河童の屁 is “a water-imp’s fart” it carries the meaning “good for nothing.”

In commenting on this print, the catalog from a 1996 exhibition Comic Genius: Kawanabe Kyōsai states “…here Kyōsai has shown a kappa whose fart is so strong that fishermen fly away, making them truly good-for-nothing.”¹

For a fascinating discussion of kappas and flatulence see Jerry Vegder’s website http://www.printsofjapan.com/Yoshitoshi_kappa_control.htm

¹Comic Genius: Kawanabe Kyosai (Gyōsai no giga, kyōga ten), Shigeru Oikawa; Timothy Clark; et. al, Tōkyō Shinbun, 1996, p. 218, cat. #122-10.

暁斎百図 かつぱの屁　河鍋暁斎　1863年頃