International Manga Museum
The International Manga Museum opened in 2006 by a joint decision of the city authorities and Seika University in Kyoto. A house that used to be an elementary school was allocated for the museum. Since 1973, manga was taught in one of the first institutions at the university. In addition to the exhibition and lecture parts, the museum actively conducts research activities and is a scientific center where international conferences are regularly held.
Brief description
The International Manga Museum is the world's first museum dedicated to this art form. His collection contains almost 300 thousand copies of manga. Komikku or manga are Japanese comic books. The International Manga Museum's collection includes rare books published after the war and a collection of magazines dating back to the Meiji period (1868 - 1912). For example, the magazine "Eshinbun Nihonchi" from 1874. The number of exhibits is constantly increasing. Many copies are translated into other languages, most often into English. Among the exhibits you can find Russian comics. The visitor has the right to take and read a book of interest right in the museum premises or in the courtyard covered with a green meadow.
Features of the International Manga Museum
The three lower floors are occupied by the Manga Wall. It contains famous works released after the 70s of the last century, including “Naruto”, “Nana”, “One Piece”. The museum combines a research sector, an exhibition hall, rooms with copies of books and magazines, a gallery, a souvenir shop and a manga cafe where you can read comics and use the Internet. The International Manga Museum is open to the public every day except Wednesday. Every year tens of thousands of foreign tourists come to the museum.
On weekends and holidays, the manga studio organizes master classes for aspiring artists. Professional comic book artists - manga artists - clearly show the step-by-step creation of manga from start to finish. "Paper plays" - kamishibai - are organized for children. This is a traditional Japanese genre, when the narration is accompanied by the display of paper pictures. There is a version that many manga authors started out as storytellers in “paper plays.”
Every Friday, visitors can order a manga-style portrait from professional artists. The International Manga Museum has its own mascot - Mamu. The name consists of the two initial letters of the combination "manga museum" in English. From Mamu's head you can see the pen with which he draws, and behind his back is the furoshiki, where he puts the manga. Furoshiki is a skillfully tied knot of fabric into which things are placed, used instead of a bag.
