The Kyoto International Manga Museum occupies a former elementary school in the centre of the city — the building itself, from 1929, is a small period delight, with terrazzo stairs and high wooden classrooms. The museum opened in 2006 as a joint venture between the city and Kyoto Seika University and holds more than 300,000 manga volumes in long open-stack reading rooms that wrap around the entire building. Visitors are encouraged to pull a book off the shelf and read on the steps, the grass, or anywhere they can find space.
Permanent exhibitions trace the history of manga from Edo-period satirical prints onward, with sections on global comics and on the production process — pen nibs, inkpots, screen tones, and storyboards. The museum has a working manga café and a portrait corner where a resident artist will sketch you in anime style. A genuinely happy place; allow a full afternoon if you read Japanese.