Japan Anime Museums

Anime and Manga-Related Museums in Japan

I haven't really seen a web page that brings anime museums and manga-ka studios together to one place in English for easy reference.  One problem is that these galleries and studios come and go, making it hard to keep up with them.  Plus, I'm still finding places I never knew about, so this probably won't ever be complete.  But, it's a start.  If you know of any locations not listed here, please contact me.

The Association of Japan Animations (AJA) has been publishing a brochure map listing many of the museums and galleries in Japan, but it's only in Japanese, and up until now it's been really hard to read and there hadn't been any URLs to the museums included on the map.  The latest map is easier to use and does have URLs, but it still lacks descriptions and I can't find an online version.  Anyway, many of the below gallery listings come from the AJA map.  Please note that some of the galleries may be connected to a local cultural center and may have only a very small selection of manga or artwork on display.  Some of the places may not have a connection to manga at all, making me wonder why they were included.  If possible, I will visit the ones around Tokyo and review them here.  Otherwise, no guarantees that they won't be a waste of time.

The list of Anime-related Sightseeing Spots is on this page.

Updates:
Nov. 2, 2009: Added GoFA entry under Tokyo, link to photos of Norakura Street and review of Norakuro manga museum.  Added entries for the Naiki and Meiji libraries under Tokyo.
Oct. 23, 2009: Added the review for Akatsuka Hall in Oume, under Tokyo.  Added the entries for the Toei animation gallery and the Norakuro Manga Museum, under Tokyo.
Sept. 28, 2009: Added the entry for the Tamarin Memorial Gallery in Kochi.
June 11, 2009: Added entry for Go Nagai museum.  Added link to att_japan's "Visit Anime Spots".  Added links for museums in Miyagi.

Tokyo

Gallery of Fantastic Art (GoFA)
Largely, GoFA seems to be an office space that doubles as a gallery every so often.  When I dropped by, they were between shows and there was nothing for me to see.  A search of the net brought up photos of an event a few months earlier featuring signed Ghost in the Shell and Orange Road posters.  The next show is scheduled from Nov. 1 to Nov. 23, 2009, with art from "Ah, Megami-sama".  Check the GoFA website before visiting there for event details.  Located on Aoyama street, halfway between Harajuku and Shibuya, on the 2nd floor of the Oval Building.

Yayoi Yumeji Gallery:
The Yayoi Yumeji Gallery is dedicated to the illustrations of Kasho Takabatake (see entry in Ehime below).  The gallery occasionally hosts manga-related exhibits (such as the "Shojo no Tomo" (Girl's Friend) magazine display that ran in October, 2009).  Check the events page of the website for upcoming exhibits before visiting. (Photos here.)

Ghibli Museum (Requires ticket purchase):
Museum dedicated to the works of Miyazaki Hayao and Studio Ghibli partners.  The museum is located near Inokashira Park in Tokyo, but is a little difficult to get to if you don't know your way around the city.  Tickets are not sold at the museum - you either have to buy them at Lawson convenience stores within Japan, or online if you're outside the country.

Suginami Animation Museum (Free):
One of the first attempts to make a museum for anime and manga in general.  They have revolving exhibits dedicated to different artists, plus a library that allows you to watch hundreds of anime DVDs and read hundreds of manga for free.  On-site artists show how they create their works, and a small gift lets you buy various paraphernalia.  Check out the current exhibit list before you go to make sure it's something you're interested in.  Located in Tokyo, just outside Shinjuku on the Chuou line, several miles from the Ghibli museum (English pamphlet). (Reviewed here.)

Tokyo Anime Center (Free):
A small display area and goods shop on the 4th floor of the UDX Building, one block behind the Akihabara train station.  The Anime Center contains a small open theater for watching featured anime or for giving live performances; TVs running current broadcast anime; an exhibit area for displaying the artwork from featured new movies or TV shows, and a large gift shop selling t-shirts, towels, key chains and anime-related food products.  There's also a small broadcast booth used for recording epsiodes for an FM radio show.  The center gets crowded fast during these recordings, which always features a popular anime voice actor or two. (Photos here.)

Norakuro Manga Museum (Free):
Manga artist Suiho Tagawa (1899-1989) lived in Morishita, just across the Sumida river from Akihabara.  A gallery dedicated to his most popular work, "Norakuro", is on the ground floor of the Morishita Bunka (Cultural) Center, on Takabashi Yomise Dori, about one mile south along 463 from the Ryogoku station on the Sobu line (Ryogoku is the big sumo district).  Norakuro is very crudely-drawn by today's standards, but it does figure heavily in manga history, and Machiko Hasegawa (below) apprenticed under Tagawa.  When you go, be sure to visit the shops along Takabashi Yomise, AKA: Norakuro Town, and buy a bottle of Norakuro sake.  (Reviewed here.)

Machiko Hasegawa Art Museum (600 yen for adults):
Machiko is the creator of one of Japan's longest-running TV anime series, and certainly one of the most beloved manga - Sazae-san.  Sazae-san is a simple 4-panel "slice of life" story that revolves around its principle character, the housewife Mrs. Sazae and her family.  Machiko collected a lot of paintings and glass works from other artists, and this museum was her way of letting the public see those works.  The main paintings rotate periodically, so it's best to check the website to see who's featured.  One section of the second floor contains Machiko's own manga art, and you can watch the TV series or read her manga as you like.  A small shop on the first floor sells the manga, posters, toys and Sazae-san-themed snacks.  Most of the text in the museum is in Japanese only, but the main brochure is available in English.  Address: 東京都世田谷区桜新町１丁目３０−６ (west of Shibuya by about 4 miles.) (Tel: 03-3701-8766) (Reviewed here.)

Toei Animation Gallery (Free):
The Toei Animation Gallery is attached to the Toei Animation Company studio in Nerima, a few miles west of Ikebukuro.  The gallery is the only part of the studio that's open to the public; located on the ground floor of the first building you come to as you enter the parking lot.  Exhibits get changed up periodically so there's no guarantee as to what you'll see when you arrive.  But, the hallways are lined with advertising posters from shows like Gegege no Kitaro, Dr. Slump, Dragonball and Mysterious Akko-chan.  One room contains shelves of figures of characters from various shows plus displays of DVD sets.  A second room exhibits more posters, artwork (pencil drawings, shooting scripts, etc.) from Mazinger Z, statues from Pretty Cure, and plush dolls from One Piece.  There's even a 20+ foot-tall statue of Mazinger Z.  TVs in the corners of the room play the opening and closing credit segments from Mazinger Z, Dragonball and other shows.  Take the Seibu-Ikebukuro line to Ouizumi Gakuen and from there it's a 15 minute walk.  The Ouizumi Gakuen station also has characters and murals from Galaxy Express 999. (Reviewed here.)

Contemporary Manga Library Naiki Collection (Free):
Back in 1978, Toshio Naiki donated 27,000 manga, with 3,000 more coming from friends, to create this library.  He's now up to 60,000 books.  The library is about 2-3 kilometers east of Takadanobaba station (off the Yamanote JR line) along Shin-Mejiro Dori, around Waseda.
Address: 565 Waseda, Tsurumaki-cho Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-0041, Japan

Yonezawa Manga and Subculture Library (Free):
Yoshihiro Yonezawa, a manga critic, collector, and one of the founders of the Comiket doujinshi fair, died in 2006.  His collection of 70,000 manga, plus toys and anime cels was donated to Meiji University.  Meiji announced at the beginning of November, 2009, that the library is now open.  It's located near Shinjuku.

Macoto Room:
Takahashi Makoto, also known simply as "Macoto", was one of the more prominent male shojo manga creators of the 1950's, having debuted in '57.  His gallery is located in Chiba, east of Tokyo.

Oume Akatsuka Hall (400 yen for adults):
Fujio Akatsuka is probably one of the best-known gag manga artists in Japan, having created Tensai Bakabon and Himitsu no Akko-chan (one of the earliest "magical girl" series). He roomed with Shotaro Ishinomori at Tokiwa Mansion, home of Osamu Tezuka's studio from 1952 to 1953.  Fujio had an incredibly off-the-wall sense of humor, which shows clearly in this gallery.  They even have a photo of him getting an autograph from boxer Muhammad Ali.  The Hall is a couple of blocks southwest of the Oume train station.  The easiest way to get to Oume is to take the Keio line from Shinjuku to Tachikawa, then switch lines to Oume.  From Shinjuku, it takes about 1 hour. (Reviewed here.)

Shojo Manga-Kan:
According to the English page on their website, the Shojo Manga-Kan is an attempt at collecting girl's manga and magazines.  They're located in a house a little ways away from Oume, making them about the same distance from Tokyo as the Oume Akatsuka Hall, above.  They're only open 1 day a week right now, so check their website for details before going out there.

Kawasaki City Museum:
The Kawasaki Museum, located in Todoroki, near the Tamagawa river, a few miles north of the Kawasaki train station, and about 15 miles southwest of Tokyo station, occasionally runs anime films in their theater.  They also carried the "Shonen Sunday/Shonen Magazine 50th Anniversaries DNA" exhibit during the summer of 2009.  Check their schedule first before going out there to see if anything is airing at the time.

Yokohama Anpan-man Children's Museum:
Anpan-man themed children's park, located in Yokohama, just south of Tokyo.

Shizuoka

Chibi Maruko-chan Land:
This is an amusement park within the S-Pulse Dream Plaza complex in Shizuoka.  Southwest of Tokyo about 100 miles, past Mount Fuji.

Shizuenji Nijin Sato Manga Museum
Nijin Sato is a theme resort area with various attractions and gardens.  Within this area is the manga museum.

  

Chikuma Furusato Manga-Kan:
This looks to be a small library (don't know, haven't been there) run by the City of Chikuma, in the Nagano region.
Address:〒387-0021 千曲市稲荷山2181-1
Phone:　026-273-5639

Iida City Puppet Museum:
Check website for event schedule.

Hokusai-Kan:
Museum dedicated to Hokusai, one of the masters of Ukiyo-e woodblock prints.

Osaka

Osamu Tezuka Museum (500 yen for Adults):
Actually, this museum is located in the city of Takarazuka, just outside Osaka.  It's fitting because Tezuka, the "Godfather of Japanese Manga" - loved the Takarazuka theater group (Takarazuka is like an all-female version of Kabuki).  The museum is dedicated to Tezuka's works, including Atom Boy, Black Jack, and Buddha.

 

Kyoto

The Kyoto International Manga Museum:
A very large-scale attempt at quantifying manga and presenting it to the world at large.  Mostly just treated as a library.

Kyoto Tezuka Osamu World:
Astro Boy goods shop located inside the Kyoto train station.

Mie

Kameyama Art Gallery, Ichiro Tominaga Section:
Tominaga apparently was a famous manga artist from the western part of Honshu island, but there's little information on him in English.  This local art gallery has one section named after him.

Toyama

Ichiro Tominaga Manga-kan:
Not a lot of information on this one.  The Togo area seems to be another resort up in the hills, with camps and gardens (check the website first for details), and one building identified as a manga museum dedicated to artist Ichiro Tominaga.

Ishikawa

Go Nagai Wonderland Museum:
The city of Wajima bought out an empty storefront and converted it into a tribute to the creator of Mazinger Z, Cutey Honey and Devilman.  It opened in 2009.

Ultraman Stadium:
Amusement park dedicated to Ultraman.

Miyagi

Shotaro Ishinomori Memorial Museum:
Ishinomori was the creator of "Cyborg 009" and the "Kamen Rider" series.

Ishinomori Mangattan Museum: (800 yen for adults)
Billed as an anime museum and information center.  Named after the creator of "Cyborg 009".

Masuda Manga Museum:
Takao Yaguchi was a popular manga artist in the 1970's and 80's.  Many of his stories had environmental themes, including his most successful title "Sanpei the Fisherman".  He came from Matsuda, near Miyagi, in Akita prefecture, and the city of Matsuda built the Yokote Matsuda Manga Museum to host his works.  Some of his characters also appear on billboards and buses around town.

Katsuichi Nagai Art Gallery:
Founded Garo monthly magazine in 1964. Manga that ran in Garo included "Legend of Kamui" and "Screw Style".  That gallery seems to feature some of the artwork from Garo.

Tottori

Gosho Aoyama Museum (700 yen for Adults):
Aoyama is the creator of "Meitantei Konan" (Detective Conan, or Case Closed), "Magic Kaito" and and "Yaiba".  This museum is dedicated to his works.

Mizuki Shigeru Memorial Hall:
Gallery dedicated to the works of famed "Gegege no Kitaro" creator Shigeru Mizuki.

Yumiko Igarashi Museum: (600 yen for adults)
Yukiko Igarashi is a cousin of one of the members of Clamp.  She lives in Sapporo, Hokkaido, and was the illustrator on "Candy Candy", with Kyoko Mizuki as the writer.  She also illustrated works written by others including "Mayme Angel" (which she did write), "Georgie!", "Paros no Ken" and "Muka Muka Paradise".  The Yumiko Igarashi Museum is in Kurashiki, Okayama, on the way to Hiroshima.  It includes a gallery of works, a cafe and a costume fitting room if you want to dress like a princess. 
Address: 9-30 honmachi, Kurashiki 710-0054

Kawakami City Manga Gallery:
Manga center featuring the works of Ichiro Tominaga.


  
Hiroshima City Manga Library:
As the name says, a manga library located in Hiroshima.  The website says that they've got close to 54,000 volumes on the shelves.


Kasho Takabatake Taisho Era Romance Museum:
Kasho Takabatake was an illustrator who lived from 1888 to 1966. He focused mainly on drawing women in a 1920's style.  The main gallery dedicated to him is in Ehime.  Art collector Takumi Kano opened a small gallery in Tokyo (near Ueno Park) also dedicated to him, called the Yayoi Yumeji Gallery.

Shikoku

Anpan-man Museum:
An-pan is a baked bread with red bean paste inside.  Anpan-Man therefore is a superhero sandwich that strives to protect his town from evil bacteria and insects.  Actually, "Anpan-Man" is an incredibly popular and long-running children's anime.  The museum is dedicated to the anime characters, and their creator, Takashi Yanase.  (Note that Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands that makes up the country of Japan.)

Ryuichi Yokoyama Museum:
Yokoyama is one of the earliest manga artists in Japanese history, and created the first anime series to be aired on Japanese TV.  He's little known in the U.S, and his art style is fairly primitive.  But, he was highly influential in the development of the manga and anime fields, and he was adopted by the city of Kochi, on the island of Shikoku.

Tamarin Memorial Gallery
Tamatsukuri Yoshiro was a young artist from Kochi who took on the pen name "Tamarin".  On Nov. 18, 1998, at age 26, he died when a truck struck his bicycle.  In 2003, a memorial gallery was dedicated to him.  The memorial does not have an official website, so all inquiries must be made directly through the mail or over the phone.  One website does have photos of the memorial building.  Fliers for the memorial can be found at the Tokyo Anime Center and the Suginami Animation Museum.
   タマリン館
   783-0091  高知県南国市立田1315－20
   Tel: 088-804-6511
   http://sakamoto.moeruhito.com/e693.html 

Kyushu

Watase Seizo Manga-Kan:
Seizo has long appeared in Weekly Morning magazine, and his "Heart Cocktail" was turned into a TV anime series that ran from 1986 to 1988.

Ultraman Land:
Arcade and goods shop dedicated to all things "Ultra".

General

Visit Anime Spots:
att_japan has a listing of anime-related sight-seeing spots, which include statues at train stations and the like.  While they do also mention various museums, they don't give links or addresses.  But, they're worth checking out anyway, since their list is bigger than mine right now.