Thursday

The Only Manga Museum in the World

Kyoto, famed for its geisha girls and global warming protocol, is also home to the only museum catering to manga, i.e. Japanese comics of wide-eyed heroes and heroines. The Kyoto International Manga Museum opened in November 2006 in a refurbished primary school and houses approximately 200,000 manga books and assorted historical items. On any given day, the museum is packed with delighted children as stacks and stacks of manga books are freely available for viewing.

Under the auspices of Kyoto Seika University, the ambitious International Manga Research Center systematically collects manga-related materials both Japanese and foreign, and analog and digital for its archives. Researchers study manga’s influence in light of cultural history and media theory and educational tools will be developed based on this study. Organizers do not see manga as a passing pop culture fad, but as a serious area of scholarly study that can boost Japan’s industry and educational areas. They see it as an effective means for business communication and that it can be used to strengthen networks of industry, government and academia.

Kyoto International Manga Museum