I’ve spoken before about the history of manga but it was more of a synopsis than anything else and it left the door open for me to expand on various aspects of manga history. I was recently perusing manga topics and I came across the term “Ponchi-e”. Understandably, I first thought it had something to do with ukiyo-e but I very quickly realised that it was entirely separate and a topic worth discussing. Therefore, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the important impact of ponchi-e on the medium of manga.
In order to explain the etymology of ponchi-e, I first need to discuss its origins. Soon after the end of the isolationist period of Japan, a British man named Charles Wirgman traveled to Japan. Having worked as a sketch artist for the Illustrated London News, the world’s first illustrated newspaper, he soon set up a magazine called Japan Punch. The name appears to have been based off of the British magazine “Punch” but this also explains the term “Ponchi-e” which is a katakana version of the word punch while attaching it to the kanji 絵 which means picture.
Japan Punch ran for 25 years and proved to be quite impactful. Beyond laying the foundations for manga in many ways such as the introduction of word balloons, the magazine also promoted the idea of producing political cartoons that would parody and satirise many of the politics, political figures and current events of Japan. The magazine was primarily targeted at foreigners but it also developed a following from the local Japanese population.
The success of Japan Punch as well as many of the techniques that it introduced soon led to the development of more political cartoons in Japan. Kobayashi Kiyochika, an ukiyo-e artist who was a student of Charles Wirgman, contributed many cartoons and illustrations to newspapers which owed much of its style to the cartoons produced in Japan Punch. These satirical cartoons eventually came to be known as ponchi-e.
It’s incredible the impact that ponchi-e had on the medium of manga and I think it’s truly important that more people, particularly manga fans, are aware of this. Let me know your thought on the important impact of ponch-e on the medium of manga, whether you had heard of ponchi-e before, what you think about the impact it had, other examples you’re aware of and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!