Kyoto International Manga Museum

Lonely Planet review

This brand new museum has a collection of some 300,000 manga (Japanese comic books). Set in an atmospheric building that used to house an elementary school, the museum is the perfect introduction to the art of manga. While most of the manga and the displays are, naturally, in Japanese, the collection of translated works is growing.

In addition to the galleries that show both the historical development of manga and original artwork done in manga style, there are beginners' workshops at weekends and opportunities to have your portrait drawn by manga artists. Visitors with children will appreciate the children's library and the humorous traditional Japanese sliding picture shows (in Japanese or silent), not to mention the Astroturf lawn where the kids can run free. The museum hosts six month-long special exhibits yearly: check the website for details. While the collection is large, rest assured that it does not hold any of Japan's infamous sukebe manga (dirty comics) - trust us: a friend of ours looked.