Kyoto International Manga Museum

Current situation of manga culture

Japanese manga culture now highly valued throughout the world

Since the latter half of the 1980s, Japanese manga and animation have been highly valued around the world. In the United States and Europe, some universities that offer courses on Japanese culture hold seminars, symposiums and exhibitions focused on manga. In Korea and China, colleges and schools have been established through national policies to develop skilled human resources for generating a new industry.

Now being recognized as a new art field in Japan

In Japan, manga has been reevaluated in recent years. In the FY2000 White Paper on Education, published by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), manga/animation was defined as a key art field. Moreover, educational use of manga has been increasing in recent years. In 2002 "manga" was included as a new topic in the "Art" subject in the MEXT Junior High School Curriculum Guidelines, and has been introduced in textbooks for Japanese Language and Social Studies. In recent years, manga has also been widely used in public relations booklets of the national and local governments, and medial and legal information guides.

Developing a comprehensive cultural facility committed to
creating a new culture and passing it on to future generations

In 2002, the Japanese government declared itself an "Intellectual Property-based Nation," announcing its policy of "actively cooperating and encouraging efforts to establish bases for preventing the loss of valuable manga and animation-related materials and providing information on manga and animation." In these circumstances, it became urgently necessary to develop a comprehensive cultural facility with functions of both museum and library, that can meet the needs of the new era. Such a facility is expected to systematically collect and preserve manga books and other related materials as academic materials, to disseminate manga culture to the world, and to pass this culture on to future generations.

Hosting the "International Manga Summit" to be held in 2008

Kyoto City actively supports activities to foster manga culture, which is of great potential in various areas, such as the creation of culture, tourism promotion and industrial promotion. As part of its efforts, Kyoto City hosted the "International Manga Summit (International Cartoonists Convention)," in 2008. This event produce important results as a project of international cultural promotion. The establishment and operation of the Kyoto International Manga Museum is positioned as a key development strategy of Kyoto City.