South Japan Manga Art Exhibits
Comics and Animation Galleries in South Honshu and Shikoku
Heading South, you'll find anime and manga museums across Japan. Most are over three hours from Tokyo, but some make pleasant day trips from Osaka.
There are anime and manga museums all over Japan, not just in Tokyo. In south-east Honshu lies Okayama prefecture, a rural area with a mild climate, a striking black castle (one of only two in Japan) and a number of hot spring spas. Okayama City is allegedly the setting for the events of Momotaro, a folktale about a demon-slaying boy born from a peach, which inspired many manga, and for anime hit Tenchi Muyo! Ryo Oh Ki.
Manga Museums of Okayama
The area's other attraction for fans is a pair of manga museums. Kawakami's Kibi Kawakami Manga Museum and Library opened in 1994, and holds many rare old items and first editions. It sponsors an annual manga contest. Open from 9am-5pm, closed Mondays, it offers free admission.
The Igarashi Yumiko Museum in Kurashiki is devoted to the creator of girls' manga such as Candy Candy. It's open 9am-6pm all year round, adult admission Y600. If the huge-eyed heroine's adventures aren't to your taste, Kurashiki's other attractions include Edo and Meiji era buildings and a toy museum. If you can't get enough of kawaii (cute) manga heroines, a second Igarashi museum is located in Minami-Tsuru, near Tokyo.
Reading Manga In Hiroshima
In southern Honshu is Hiroshima, site of the world's first atomic bomb attack which inspired Keiji Nakazawa's autobiographical manga and anime Barefoot Gen. Apart from the relics of the nuclear explosion and its consequences, the city has a castle, destroyed in the bombing but rebuilt on its original stone foundations, and a manga library and reading room. The Hiroshima City Manga Library is in Hijiyama Park, near the city's Museum of Contemporary Art, and is open 10am-5pm, closed Mondays, admission free.
Yamato in Kure
In nearby Kure, a few minutes from the JR station, is a museum dedicated to the historic battleship which inspired Leiji Matsumoto's Space Battleship Yamato, with a 1/10 scale replica of the ship, sunk by the American fleet in 1945. It's open 9am-5pm, closed Tuesday, adult admission 500 yen.
Offshore Adventures
There are more manga museums on Shikoku, smallest of Japan's major islands. Ryuichi Yokoyama, creator of Fuku-chan, is honoured in the Yokoyama Memorial Museum in Kochi City's Culture Plaza. The museum has galleries, historical displays, items related to Yokoyama's life, screenings of his animation productions for Otogi Pro, and even a version of his bar at home.
It's near Saenba station, open 9am-6pm, closed Monday and New Year, adult admission 400 yen. The city was also home to Ryoma Sakamoto, a samurai hero who appears in many anime and manga (such as Peacemaker Kurogane), and it has one of Japan's best-preserved feudal castles.
Nearby Kahoku town in Kochi prefecture has the Kahoku Yanase Takashi Memorial Anpanman Museum, devoted to the bun-headed hero Anpanman, beloved of legions of Japanese pre-school children and created by local boy Yanase. He has an office on the third floor, with glass walls to encourage visitors to peek in.
With a souvenir shop, movie theater and children's play area as well as the usual galleries, the museum is the town's top attraction and one of the most visited anime and manga museums in Japan. It's open from 9 am-5 pm, closed Tuesdays, adult admission 600 yen.
The message for manga fans is: go south! There's a fascinating manga culture outside Tokyo, just waiting for you to discover it.
