The Kyoto International Manga Museum was founded as a joint project of Kyoto City and Kyoto Seika University to collect, preserve, and exhibit manga materials, and conduct research into manga culture, for the purpose of holding exhibitions and events based on the research of these manga materials which are attracting attention from around the world. This museum is a new kind of cultural facility that concurrently performs library functions and museum functions. Manga materials preserved in the museum's collection consist of approximately 300,000 items; from caricature woodblock prints of the Edo period(18th century), to magazines of the latter half of the 19th century and the pre-war time; as well as books ranging from post-war rental books to modern popular series and publications from abroad. The results of ongoing research based on these materials are made public through exhibitions, seminars, and workshops held by the museum. The museum is housed in the Showa era building of the former Tatsuike Elementary School, preserving its historical appearance, and thus representing the role that the school has played as a longtime symbol of the region.
