Manga, Anime and Games in Kyoto
A guide from the Kyoto travel guide — see more in Visual Guides.
Kyoto is famous for temples, but it is also a good city for manga, anime and video games. Nintendo started here, a big manga library sits in the city centre, and several popular anime series are set in its streets. Most of the places below are close to a train or subway station, so they fit easily between temple visits or on a rainy day.
Kyoto International Manga Museum
The museum is at Karasuma-Oike, right above the subway station where the Karasuma and Tozai lines meet. It opened in 2006 in an old primary school building, and the wooden halls and classrooms are still there. The main thing to do is read: long walls of shelves hold tens of thousands of manga that you can take down and read anywhere in the building, or outside on the grass in front when the weather is good. Most books are in Japanese, but there is a shelf of manga in other languages. There are also small exhibitions on how manga is drawn. It is usually closed on Wednesdays, so check the website before you go.
The Nintendo Museum in Uji
Nintendo began in Kyoto in 1889 as a maker of playing cards, and its head office is still in the city. In October 2024 the company opened the Nintendo Museum in Ogura, Uji, on the site of an old Nintendo factory. Inside you can see the company's products from hanafuda cards and toys to every game console, and play large interactive games. Tickets are sold online only, by advance booking or lottery, and you cannot buy one at the door. The museum is a short walk from Kintetsu Ogura Station, about 30 minutes from Kyoto Station. Pair it with Uji town, which is known for green tea and the Byodo-in temple.
Anime places around the city
Kyoto Animation, one of Japan's best-known anime studios, is based in Uji, and many fans visit the places shown in its series. The “Sound! Euphonium” series is set in Uji, so the Uji Bridge, the riverside paths and Keihan Uji Station all look familiar to fans. In the city, the Demachi Masugata shopping street near Demachiyanagi Station appears in “Tamako Market”, and small shops there still show posters from the show. The novels of Tomihiko Morimi, such as “The Tatami Galaxy” and “The Eccentric Family”, were made into anime and use real places around the Kamo River and Shimogamo Shrine. Please be polite at these spots: they are normal shopping streets and homes, so keep noise down and ask before you photograph shop staff.
Game shops and arcades downtown
The busiest area for shopping is Shijo-Kawaramachi. The shopping complex next to the Takashimaya department store has a large Nintendo store and other shops selling character goods, and it gets crowded on weekends. A short walk north, the covered Teramachi and Shinkyogoku shopping streets have game centres with crane games, rhythm games and photo booths, plus shops for cards, figures and used manga. Around Kyoto Station, the shopping buildings on both sides of the station also have anime and hobby stores. Most shops open around 10:00 or 11:00 and close around 20:00 or 21:00.
Toei Kyoto Studio Park
In Uzumasa, in the west of the city, Toei Kyoto Studio Park is a working film studio that also welcomes visitors. You can walk through a full outdoor set of an old Edo-period town, watch ninja and stage shows, try on costumes, and visit a haunted house. The park also holds events and displays for popular anime and TV shows, which change through the year. It is a few minutes on foot from JR Uzumasa Station or the Randen tram's Uzumasa-Koryuji stop, and it works well for families. Plan two to four hours here.