Interesting stuff.

Here is another interesting piece of trivia, not sure if it was just in the Edo era or not:

Court ladies used to have attendants that would follow them around whenever they were in public. One of their most important responsibilities was to claim responsibility whenever their ladies farted audibly in front of people. After the noblewoman broke wind, the attendant would stand up and announce to everyone "Watakushi deshita, nani ka?" with a scowl to discourage any snickering.

Learned that from one of those 'did you know' shows a little while ago. The re-enacment they did had me laughing myself silly.