User:Cielbl3uu/sandbox

= Japan Punch (magazine) = The Japan Punch is a satirical comic magazine and journal that was authored, illustrated and published by English painter and cartoonist Charles Wirgman from 1862 to 1887. The publication reflected the social context of bakamatsu Yokohama and often depicted the frustrations that emerged from conflicts between Japanese domestic politics and early foreign settlement life in Japan. It utilised cartoons to comment and critique the media and political landscape of the social and political issues of the Meiji era.

History
Wirgman published the Japan Punch for 25 years, from 1862 to 1887. Though the publication debuted in 1862, it is known that a total of 64 pages were printed that year, but the number of volumes are unclear. Hence, it is determined that the magazine was first published irregularly until 1865 when it started to release issues monthly as the magazine quickly begun to gain popularity amongst foreigners. Wirgman has produced over 200 issues of the magazine, where each issue consists of about 10 pages and made use of various Japanese techniques. It was mainly produced through woodblock printing on the Japanese paper washi, but lithography was also used from 1883 onwards and the Japanese style of stitching was also carried out.

The title of the publication is named after and alluded to the original British version or equivalent, the Punch (The London Charivari) where 'Punch' is short for 'Punchinello' from the traditional puppet show Punch and Judy. The cover of the debut issue of the Japan Punch featured the original British Punch's mascot, a grinning hand puppet known as 'Mr Punch' to exhibit its affiliation or relations to the original. The impetus for the creation or existence of the Japan Punch is generally attributed to its scrutiny of members of the Yokohama press and their imperious opinions. A major newspaper of the settlement, the Japan Herald's threat of 'punishment of no gentle character' towards those who defaced circular documents provoked Wirgman to respond and criticise them through his series of cartoons in the Japan Punch, as depicted in the publication's content in the first year where its pages were filled with attacks and parodies of the editorial style of the  settlement's major newspaper and its publisher, Albert W. Hansard.

Style
The Japan Punch is characterised as a satirical cartoon magazine whose scrutiny of Japan's politics and society was able to inform the foreign community of Yokohama of Japan's domestic political and social issues which were often imperceptible to foreigners. The publication exerts parodies of purple prose and heavily uses rhetorical elements such as alliteration and pathetic fallacy to communicate their critique. Wirgman ridiculed and scrutinised the 'high-handed opinions' of the Yokohama press in the publication by parodying the 'high-minded prospectus' of the Japan Herald through non-sensical rhyming and ornate yet often misspelled and ungrammatical language which would become the trademark or signature style of the Japan Punch. Wirgman's distinctive writing style has been characterised as a type of 'deadpan playfulness' to which academic John Clark describes as representative of his 'engaging, eccentric, polyglot' personality.

Cartoons
The cartoons illustrated in the Japan Punch are characterised as political cartoons and are generally regarded as a prototype for political cartoons. The cartoons are also considered as caricatures, a prototype or early form of manga and punch pictures. Otsuka Eiji attributes and outlines the Japan Punch's cartoons as an early form of manga which were independent and consisted of single-framed illustrations that satirised religious leaders, aristocrats and politicians as well as social manners and customs. Furthermore, the Japan Punch's illustrations maintains its unlikeness and uniqueness through its localisation of 'punch pictures' by adapting and assimilating it to Japanese elements which distinguishes it from subtle similarities between Edmund Lear's illustrations and other punch artists, which some critics have noted.

Reception
The Japan Punch was typically received well by its target audience, the foreign community in Yokohama. As the publication addressed Japanese politics, society and people which were often topics limited to news items, it sparked great interest from the community. In addition, with a few hundred copies in circulation, the magazine became popular with foreigners which prompted Wirgman to shift from publishing irregularly to a monthly basis. However, contemporary audiences may not understand Wirgman's work as insufficient understanding of the social context render the cartoons to be indecipherable and also due to the vituperative humour that has lost its significance and humour overtime.

History of Yokohama
The publication remains as a valuable source of information on the Yokohama region's foreign settlement, politics and social issues of the Meiji era .The illustrations of the publication serve as a memory of the era and allow for comparison between contemporary Yokohama and Meiji era Yokohama. Furthermore, the critic Todd S.Munson describes the publication as 'good evidence' as it preserves the observations of a first-hand witness of bakamatsu Yokohama. The geography and landscape of the region is also preserved in the publication as journals such as The Athenaeum records the scenery of the region in detail, based from the Japan Punch's illustrations.

Cartoons/ Manga
The Japan Punch has made a considerable impact and influence on Japanese comic art or manga. It is considered as the first comic magazine to appear in Japan and historians frequently regard the publication as a prototype for Japanese political cartoons but also for manga as well. Its significance extends to the extent that 'ponchi'(punch), a Japanese word derived from the name of the title of the publication has replaced words that previously meant caricature.