Manga & Subculture

"Manga" has become a significant part of Japanese culture. There is a comprehensive manga museum in Kyoto where visitors can learn about its history and culture. Most of the walls in the Museum are bookcases, which are filled to the brim with tens of thousands of manga books. Visitors are free to take books off the shelves and browse them. It is very much a "manga library".
In addition to permanent exhibitions which systematically introduce the history and changes of manga, the Museum holds numerous events such as special exhibitions of original images drawn by leading Japanese manga artists and workshops that appeal even to children. If you go at the right time, you may be able to see writing demonstrations by currently active Japanese manga artists.
The museum is located in an elementary school built in 1929 and the building still retains the appearance of a school in various places.

The Collections

The Museum has a collection of approximately 300,000 manga books and materials ranging from precious historical materials such as manga magazines over 100 years old to former masterworks, the latest popular works, and non-Japanese works from Europe, America, and Asia. Tens of thousands of those books are packed on the shelves for visitors to browse at their free will (borrowing is prohibited). A particular point of interest is the giant "Manga Wall" book shelf which is a total length of 200m. The history of and changes in manga are introduced at an excellent permanent exhibition which looks at "What is Manga?" in an easy to understand way, accessible even to novices.

 

 

Notes

Being close to the center of the city, the museum is located in an extremely convenient area only a short distance from "Karasuma Oike" subway station.
The Museum of Kyoto is also within walking distance.