BREAKING THE WIND

I have for some time now had an essay on the back burner, so to speak, regarding this very subject, working title Democracy and Flatulence, but I refer you to this posting by vincentvds of Achikochi, specifically to do with the surprising Japanese freedom of silent release on crowded trains (correlation of the snore factor with the olfactory factor indicates that it's probably because so many of them are asleep). That posting prompted me to recall an old and understandably anonymous senryu that perhaps offers additional insight:

letting rip a good one--
no one laughs
when you live alone