Kyoto International Manga Museum

The Kyoto International Manga Museum is one of the most disarmingly enjoyable museums in Japan, because it barely feels like a museum at all: it is a place to sit down, pull a comic off the shelf, and read. Opened in 2006 as a joint project between the City of Kyoto and Kyoto Seika University, it occupies the wonderfully preserved wooden buildings of the former Tatsuike Elementary School, which served the neighbourhood from 1869 until 1995. The creaky corridors, old assembly hall and worn staircases give the collection a warm, nostalgic setting that no purpose-built gallery could match.

The centrepiece is the Wall of Manga, roughly 200 metres of open bookshelves lining the corridors and stairwells and holding around 50,000 volumes. These are not behind glass. Visitors are free to take down almost any book and read it, curling up on benches, on the stairs, or out on the grassy lawn in front of the building, where on a fine day you will find dozens of people happily lost in a story. The museum's total holdings exceed 300,000 items when you include its research archives, rare early magazines and international collection, making it a serious centre for the study of manga as well as a place to relax.

Beyond the reading shelves, the permanent exhibition traces the history and craft of manga: how it evolved from Edo-period woodblock satire into a global publishing phenomenon, how stories are drawn and serialised, and why this particular art form became so central to modern Japanese culture. Rotating special exhibitions spotlight individual artists, genres or anniversaries. There is a small, quirky collection of plaster hand-prints from famous mangaka, a Maiko portrait corner, and a resident portrait artist who will sketch you in manga style.

Families are well looked after. There is a dedicated children's library, storytelling sessions, and workshops where you can watch a professional demonstrate the inking and screentone techniques behind a published page. A pleasant cafe, whose walls are covered in the autographs and doodles of visiting artists, spills out toward the garden.

The atmosphere is unhurried and genuinely local; alongside tourists you will see Kyoto students and office workers dropping in on a lunch break. There is a modest selection of manga translated into English and other languages near the entrance, so non-Japanese readers are not left out. Plan on around two hours, though it is entirely possible to lose a whole rainy afternoon here.

The location is central and easy: it is a two-minute walk from Exit 2 of Karasuma Oike Station, a hub on both the Karasuma and Tozai subway lines, putting it within reach of Nijo Castle, the downtown shopping streets and Nishiki Market. Admission is 900 yen for adults, with lower rates for students and children, and the museum is closed on Tuesdays and over the New Year period.