panpanya’s commercial debut was marked by the special web issue of the manga magazine Rakuen (Le Paradis) by the publisher Hakusensha in the spring of 2013. The artist has depicted many short stories in which simple characters reduced to the absolute minimal number of lines in order to express human emotions become distracted or fascinated by mysterious things or feelings of discomfort lingering in day-to-day life, and, before they know it, they find themselves wandering into places that are not quite the same as the real world. These worlds in which details and ambiguity coexist, as if in a dream, are transformed by the mental state and interests of unnamed protagonists.
panpanya creates one-of-a-kind hand bound books using as themes scenes or things found throughout Seto City—such as walls called kamagaki (kiln walls) that are accumulations of no longer needed kiln tools and implements, potteries that suddenly appear in back alleys, ceramic insulators made in a factory somewhere, piles of plates separated by crepe paper to prevent them from breaking, transfer paper used for painting ceramics, and paper bags for plaster for making molds for ceramic ware—and at times literally sticking together materials that the artist has collected.
This hand bound manga folded in a zigzag fashion can be read at Matsuchiyokan, which used to be a Japanese-style inn (ryokan) that prospered thanks to the companies that shipped ceramic ware. Parts of the manga have also been scattered throughout various places in Seto City so as to give the impression of an overlapping of scenes from the manga and scenes from reality. Try to find them as you stroll around town. Reproductions of the manga can be read at the Learning Centers of the Aichi Triennale 2025.