panchira exhib top

“Panchira,” the Japanese word for “panty-shot,” usually conjures up images of creepy guys on the train trying to angle their smartphone cameras under the skirts of schoolgirls. But to be fair, while that’s certainly an unfortunate part of panchira culture, that’s not all there is to it. When panchira is done tastefully, it can be considered art, just like any other form of photography.

To prove that point, “Panchira 2015,” a photography exhibition devoted exclusively to pictures of panty-shots, was held last week, and they recently announced that they had over 20,000 attendees. With the incredible enthusiasm of both the guests and the people running it, it’s not hard to see why.

Panchira 2015 was a week-long photography exhibition held in Asakusabashi in Tokyo between February 9-15. Even if you have no idea what the word panchira means, it’s not hard to guess when you look at their advertising:

▼ “Um, does it have something to do with pink? Or maybe-“

▼”…wait, why are those girls’ butts showing?”

▼ “Oh. Yes. Now I see.”

The event was run by cosplayers/models Lewo Saito and namada, who can be seen happily escorting and entertaining the 20,000 attendees as they waited in the extremely long line to get inside.

▼ namada singing “the line to get in starts here!”

▼ And occasionally getting help telling people where to queue up.

▼ “Okay I’ll help you with the sign if you promise not to–Hey! Stop that!”

▼ The halfway-point marker. You’re halfway there to seeing some (artistic!) panty-shots.

▼ Unless you got in line too late. Sorry, sold out!

▼ But no worries. There’s still plenty to do even if you don’t get in.

As for what was actually inside the exhibition, though, unfortunately no photos were allowed of the actual artwork. If you weren’t lucky enough to go there yourself, then the only way you’ll be able to see the pictures is by picking up a copy of the March edition of Photo Technic Digital magazine on February 20, which will feature the panchira photography that was on display.

For those of us who can’t do that either, here are a few items that were released:

▼ A photo encapsulating cosplay events in Japan, by yukky.

▼ A montage of schoolgirl just-barely-panchira by Yukkey (no relation to yukky above).

▼ At the end of the exhibition guests were welcome to take pictures of themselves looking up the skirt of a cardboard namada as a souvenir.

▼ Though if they weren’t careful, she peeked underneath their skirts too.

If you’re a panchira fan and you missed out this year, don’t worry – all signs are pointing to there being a Panchira 2016 next year. While nothing official has been announced yet, the official Panchira 2015 Twitter account is loaded with people requesting it. Feel free to let your voice be heard too by sending them a tweet, and we’ll let you know as soon as we see more panties on the horizon.

Source: Netlab
Top/featured image: Twitter