Fukutomi zōshi / musical-fart success and failed imitation
About the work
Imported from the workbook's Full reassessment sheet, revised 7 October 2026 (record ID 82). The assessment below is the workbook's comparative judgment under its stated criteria; source links and limits are retained.
Workbook assessment: Spread only
Date or witness: 15th century; early version first half of century, Cleveland copy mid-1400s
Region: Japan, Kyoto
Workbook date-sort bounds: 1400 CE to 1499 CE; these bounds are not automatically invention or disappearance dates.
Description
One man becomes successful through musical flatulence; an envious imitator follows sabotaged advice and soils himself during a performance. Versions were repeatedly copied and altered.
Evidence of adoption or transmission
Fukutomi was recopied and altered into distinct recensions over several centuries.
What remains uncertain
The medieval evidence points strongly toward elite cultural patronage. Cleveland suggests court officials commissioned satire of upwardly mobile performers; Hyogo locates the early fashion among people in power. Commoner protagonists do not mean a commoner audience.
Workbook revision note: Reassessed using grassroots criteria