Editorial Cartoon and “Ponchi-e”

We will explain the concept that links Punch, a satirical magazine born in Britain, Japan Punch, a magazine from the end of the Edo period that imitated Punch, and the ‘ponchi-e’ drawn by all Japanese scientists and bureaucrats.

Ann Telnaes

In early 2025, Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Ann Telnaes resigned from her position at the Washington Post. She had drawn a cartoon of the paper’s owner, Jeff Bezos, kneeling to President-elect Trump, but the paper refused to publish it, so she resigned in protest. The people depicted, from the left, appear to be Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Sam Altman (OpenAI), Patrick Soon-Shiong (LA Times), and Mickey Mouse (ABC).

In this article, we will be introducing you to satirical cartoons and the unique Japanese culture of ‘ponchi-e,’ which has its roots in satirical cartoons.

History of Comics

There is some debate about what exactly constitutes a cartoon and a comic, but if we call them ‘pictures that tell a story,’ then their history goes back to around 5,000 years ago in ancient Egypt. The most famous and oldest of these, which clearly convey a story, and which still exist today, is probably *Trajan’s Column.* It is said to have been completed in 113 AD, and it vividly conveys the atmosphere of the time to modern people.

Trajan’s Column

There is a long history of this technique of using pictures to tell a story. In Japan, *Birds, Animals and Human Beings,* which were drawn in the 12th and 13th centuries, were the first picture stories.

Birds, Animals and Human Beings

However, rather than historical facts or fantasy, records of pictures that convey social satire first appeared relatively recently. Such *editorial cartoons are thought to date back to the late 18th century in England, with James Gillray. He was unrelenting in his criticism of the then King George III and the French general and emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon I). Freedom of speech was beginning to be advocated in the late 18th century, so Gillray was probably a more gutsy character than we imagine in the 21st century. One of his works is [The Plumb-pudding in danger.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Plumb-pudding_in_danger)*

James Gillray: The Plum-Pudding in Danger; — or — State Epicures taking un Petit Souper

In Plum Pudding in Danger, the British Prime Minister William Pitt (left) and the new French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (right) are depicted dividing up the globe. Pitt is holding back the Atlantic Ocean with three forks representing the British Navy, but he is about to lose the island of Britain. On the other hand, Napoleon is holding Europe in check with his sword, and he is stabbing Hanover with his fork. Incidentally, the British royal family at the time was the Hanoverian dynasty. It might be the pride of the Englishman Gillray that Napoleon is drawn smaller than him.

In England, where Gillray made the country the home of editorial cartoon, the weekly satirical magazine *Punch was first published. At this time, half-tone printing had not yet been invented, and of course greyscale printing was not possible, so artists worked hard using the technique of hatching. John Tenniel, who is famous for his hatching illustrations in Alice in Wonderland,* was a little later than Gillray, but he also worked on satirical cartoons for Punch.

John Tenniel: A Christmas Puzzle, (Father Christmas: “Now, my little man, where’s your stocking?”) Punch, 1895

From Punch to Ponchi

In 1862, British caricaturist Charles Wirgman launched the satirical magazine *Japan Punch in Edo period Japan. Although he was aware of the British magazine Punch,* there was no partnership between the two. The name ‘Punch’ is an English version of the Italian clown ‘Pulcinella’, so it is probably a generic name.

Wirgman took over various techniques from the original Punch and reflected them in Japan Punch. The most important of these was probably the ability to get to the point with a single picture.

At the end of the Edo period, bureaucrat Genichiro Fukuchi published his own newspaper around the time of the opening of Edo Castle, and in the second issue he introduced the satirical cartoons of Japan Punch. Fukuchi explained Japan Punch as follows.

There is a thing called ‘Ponchi’ in Western newspapers. It is a kind of picture story in the style of [Japanese] Toba-e, with a humorous picture composition, and there is an allegory in it, which is a Japanese riddle. In Yokohama, copies are already being sold every month, and there are some very funny ideas.

Fukuchi translated ‘Punch’ as ‘Ponchi’, and this became the origin of the word ‘Ponchi-e’, meaning ‘picture of Ponchi.’ Originally, ‘Ponchi-e’ referred to single-panel caricatures like those published in Japan Punch, which Fukuchi introduced, but it gradually came to mean ‘a picture that gets to the point in a single panel.’

For example, in the 20th century, engineers would draw rough sketches called ‘ponchi-e’ before drawing up plans. Well, they still do draw them, but they don’t seem to call them ‘ponchi-e’ any more.

On the other hand, ‘ponchi-e’ continue to be drawn in Japanese government offices, and in fact, efforts are being made to raise them to the level of ‘contemporary art.’ Here’s an example.

Ponchi-e drawn by Japan’s Cabinet Office

This is a ‘ponchi-e’ for describing Moonshot Research and Development Program of Japan’s Cabinet Office.

It certainly seems to get to the point in a single image. The red arrow in the center represents the application of basic research to the real world, and the blue spiral arrows surrounding it represent the involvement of industry in its development. It’s wonderful that the center even has the poetic phrase ‘As a result, the concept of “failure” disappears’. The technique of subtly incorporating a message for the Cabinet Office while pretending to be aimed at scientists is also brilliant.

And Japanese scientists also have to get involved in drawing these cartoon pictures in order to apply for government funding. The ability to draw good ponchi-e is directly linked to getting funding. Some of them are very well-crafted ‘masterpieces’ that are famous for their quality. Here it is.

Ponchi-e drawn by Ministry of the Environment, Japan

The fact that they use Japan’s brilliant minds in this way itself might be a picture of satirical cartoon.

One More Thing

Thank you for reading this article. If you are interested in editorial cartoons, please watch this video.

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We need humor like we need the air we breathe, says editorial cartoonist Patrick Chappatte. In a talk illustrated with highlights from a career spent skewering everything from dictators and ideologues to selfies and social media mobs, Chappatte makes a resounding, often hilarious case for the necessity of satire. “Political cartoons were born with democracy, and they are challenged when freedom is,” he says.

This is a TED talk by Patrick Chappatte, a political cartoonist. Using Donald Trump as an example, he explains that ‘it is difficult to make a cartoon of a politician who is like a cartoon.’ He continues to explain with a lot of humour, showing his own political cartoons on stage. He also makes a strong appeal that the political cartoons are absolutely necessary in this world.

This article is originally published in Japanese.