Landscape A4-sized modern art. How were Kasumigaseki's 'Ponchi-e' (conceptual diagrams) born? And what is their unknown mission?

I love 'Ponchi-e'.

In particular, I love the Ponchi-e created by government offices.

Finely written text, free illustration assets, flashy arrows and speech bubbles pointing in every direction, lines showing relationships... A single document packed with an overwhelming amount of information... That is the supreme Ponchi-e.

Even if I explain it in words, this charm surely won't be conveyed. First, let's take a look.

It is simply beautiful. So much so that I am captivated by it.

Those who have studied design might frown at it. However, one cannot resist its complex and mysterious charm—.

Why on earth was something like this born? Who is making it and how? For what purpose... what kind of meaning does it have?

There are so many things I don't understand.

Therefore, in this article, I would like to consider the uniqueness of government PowerPoint documents (so-called Ponchi-e), the background of how Ponchi-e were born and their mission, and re-examine the essential value that Ponchi-e possess.

To begin with, what is a Ponchi-e?

Now, I have been repeating the word 'Ponchi-e' over and over, but what does it actually mean?

In a broad sense, Ponchi-e has meanings like illustrations, charts, or rough sketches, and is used in various business scenes.

However, in this article, I will specifically refer to PowerPoint documents (definitely not Keynote), and among them, the 'information-packed' single or series of slides created by government officials.

If I were to list their characteristics, they would generally look like this.

• The components of the subject matter to be explained are included 'without omission' on a single page.

• They are often created with diagrams using illustrations, not just text.

• In principle, they use a landscape A4 layout, with detailed explanatory text written in.

The following is a perfect, typical example of this.

Having written this much, I have a question.

Why, you guys, do you pack so much into it?

I mean, wouldn't it be easier to see if you kept it a bit more modest? Isn't it just too complex and too difficult to understand?

I put these questions to people who have experience creating these 'Ponchi-e' (explanatory illustrations).

Why are Ponchi-e 'like that'?—The unknown mission

"I think they end up becoming Ponchi-e as a result."

This is what Mr. A, a former NPO staff member, says.

"Administrative work tends to have many stakeholders. Since it covers every aspect of life, the scope of work is incredibly broad. In the private sector, I think you can intentionally narrow down the purpose, target audience, stakeholders, and business content, but when it comes to administration, you always have to comprehensively include every related area, so I think it ends up becoming what is called a Ponchi-e." (Mr. A)

Mr. S, a consultant who has government agencies as clients, reveals, "When I bring in a clean, simple document, I am sometimes told, 'Show it to me in that manga-style format.'"

The 'manga-style format' refers to what is known as a Ponchi-e. It seems that a single-page illustration that explains things like a diagram using illustrations and arrows is actually what is demanded in the field.

He also says it is important that the document can be 'understood without omission or excess' even if it circulates alone within the ministry.

"We assume that we will hand the document to the client and they will circulate it among themselves. That is why we include everything we want to explain." (Consultant Mr. S)

I see. I have begun to see the necessity of packing information into a single slide, and the background behind why the amount of information included tends to be large in the first place.

Let's also hear from the people on the inside.

Mr. YS, who works at a ministry, says, "Of course, we create them so that a certain level of understanding can be gained from a single page."

"It is important that it is one page. Because all the basic things are explained and it can respond to all kinds of questions, neither the person explaining nor the person listening gets bogged down with paperwork." (Mr. YS, ministry employee)

A bureaucrat talks about the importance of keeping it to one page.

I continued my interviews with other people as well.

Mr. K, who works for a local government, explains, "Since it is important for official administrative documents to fulfill accountability, they tend to be long-winded anyway.".

Regarding the reason, it is said that 'government reports and recommendations are intentionally comprehensive so that people from any position can feel that the things they want to see are included.'

Also, M.N., who works at a central government ministry, states,'In short, the existence of ponchi-e is defined by being an explanatory document with high versatility above all else.'. They assert this.

'And the expected effect is to be "understood" by the other party,' they continued.

That is exactly it.

Anytime, anywhere, and quickly. Whether inside or outside the ministry, regardless of who is explaining or who is receiving, it covers all information and relationships so that the overview can be conveyed.

That is the mission of administrative documents, the ponchi-e.

When you listen to the people involved, new charms come into view.

Having said that, though.

Did everyone get used to these ponchi-e from the beginning?

If so, I think that is a quite remarkable ability.

Honestly, what did you think when you first saw one?

'It's like contemporary art...'

This is what D, who works at a relatively newly established ministry, says. They say they still vividly remember the first time they saw a ponchi-e at work.

In their first year, they tried to strip away as much information as possible to create a document without waste, but they say powerlessly, 'I received feedback from my superiors and seniors, and it gradually turned into a ponchi-e.'

Before they knew it, D themselves began to copy every single sentence or phrase that might be thought of as 'possibly necessary, even if only slightly' onto the slide without any omissions.

'I questioned why things like colors and gradients were used when it wasn't premised on monochrome printing.'

This is what YS, who works at the aforementioned ministry, says.

'They use color as if it's natural, so it's hard to understand in monochrome. I was conscious of that problem, and even as an intern, I made a proposal about documents that are easy to understand even in monochrome.'

Of course, that proposal did not pass.

"I thought it was just way too hard to understand! It looks like a grand correlation diagram of a food chain or an ecosystem.". Mr. A, a former NPO staff member, raises his voice.

Mr. M.N. from a central government ministry also rants, "The design quality is too low, and there is too much text. Even the term 'ponchi-e' itself is lame...", but he can now create a perfect ponchi-e.

Everyone seems to have their own thoughts on it. They may not be convinced, but they have likely adapted out of necessity.

That being the case, what becomes interesting is how they are made.

How did they master the ponchi-e, which they initially felt uncomfortable with?

Are there any tricks to creating a ponchi-e?

How is a ponchi-e made? Most ordinary business people would probably find it difficult to imitate even if they tried.

However, if you look closely, you get the feeling that there are certain rules, patterns, and standard expressions. If you follow those strictly, couldn't you create a respectable ponchi-e?

Former NPO staff member Mr. A says, "When you try to explain administrative work on a single sheet of A4 paper, it almost always ends up as a ponchi-e."

He says he hasn't been taught how to make them specifically, but he hangs his head, saying, "The more I struggle to make the materials easy to understand, the more I end up with a ponchi-e..."

"However, administrative ponchi-e use too many colors, making them hard to decipher. I personally am careful not to use too many colors," he added, sharing the tearful efforts he makes to try and make his ponchi-e even slightly easier to understand.

Mr. YS, who works at a ministry, is the type of person who has more actively learned how to create ponchi-e.

"When I find a good ponchi-e, I ungroup it and click on various parts to check the figure settings. I break them down to check how they were made."

He says he actively incorporates expressions he likes into his own repertoire.

"The trick to making a clean ponchi-e is to use the keyboard, not the mouse, to create the figures. I set the frame size with numerical values, align positions using alignment tools, and make fine adjustments with the arrow keys. Just having the shapes neatly aligned makes a huge difference in the impression it gives."

Of course, he says he doesn't just create figures himself; he also bookmarks high-quality free material sites and uses them according to his needs.

And Mr. K, who moved from the private sector to a local government, reflects, "I searched for good ponchi-e on the internet and learned about color usage and structural organization."

"When creating them, I am always conscious of the order in which I want the viewer's eyes to move. Even when I think it would be faster to explain it in text, I hold back."

The advice from M.N., who works at a central government ministry, was practical in a sense.

"I've collected good ponchi-e and kept my antenna up for them in my work. At first, I scoured design-related books and explored ways to create better-looking materials, but I realized that doing so failed to serve the purpose of the documents within the ministry, and my boss wouldn't approve them."

It seems they finally resigned themselves to it when, two weeks after being assigned there as a new graduate, their boss told them, 'Add more text to the materials.'

When I asked M.N. for the secret to creating a good ponchi-e, this was the answer I got.

"If I had to say, it's to lobby behind the scenes so that the right to create the original draft goes to someone who is good at ponchi-e. Before talking about technique, that is what's important."

It may be blunt, but that might just be the way bureaucrats survive.

Behind the ponchi-e, which should now be called contemporary art, there was indeed a craftsmanship akin to an art production site. From gathering materials for the work, imitating techniques, and sublimating them into one's own expression, to the production ability to assemble more talented production staff...

It is clear that first-class work is being done in various aspects.

In truth, there are no clear rules or patterns for ponchi-e. Everyone learned through practice. It was the fruit of effort that was, in the end, unglamorous and tear-jerking.

Fix the layout in PDF after creating a ponchi-e

If you have created a ponchi-e with all your might, I would like you to not only save the PowerPoint file but also convert it to PDF.

PDF stands for 'Portable Document Format,' a global standard file format developed by Adobe.

Whether on a PC, smartphone, or printed on paper, the layout can be displayed in the same way without collapsing. Of course, you can rest assured that the person you send the file to via email or other means will see the same thing. That is the advantage of PDF.

There is nothing difficult about it. If you use the 'Adobe Acrobat Online Tools' 'Convert PPT to PDF' feature, you can convert your PowerPoint file to PDF just by dragging and dropping it.

One of the features of Acrobat Online Tools is that it can convert files at high speed. Uploaded files are automatically converted and can be downloaded in just a few seconds.

Furthermore, PDFs converted with Acrobat Online Tools can be shared as they are. You don't have to download them, attach them to emails, etc.; you can just issue and send a URL to the PDF file saved in the cloud.

Acrobat Online Tools, which can be accessed from any device, are easy to use and highly functional. Since they can be used in any environment, whether on a PC or smartphone, they are perfect for working on the go.

If you compare a ponchi-e to a painting, PowerPoint is the paintbrush, and the PDF is equivalent to the frame. In a ponchi-e where information is dense, a misalignment of even 1px in an image can be fatal. Acrobat Online Tools can be said to be an essential tool for properly managing such delicate ponchi-e.

Landscape A4 layout contemporary art

And so, based on interviews with professionals in the field, I have written about the significance and efficacy of Ponchi-e, as well as tips on how to create them and simple methods for converting them to PDF.

It may sometimes look strange, but it is helping someone, somewhere, today.

Leaving no one behind, and ensuring not even the smallest piece of information is missed.

Landscape A4 layout modern art will continue to develop as a unique culture of our country.

At the end of the interview, hearing the words of one bureaucrat, I became convinced of this.

"The sense of accomplishment you get when you manage to condense a massive amount of information—the kind where you think, 'There's no way all this will fit'—onto a single sheet, using every last bit of the printable area, is truly special."