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I have taken an American, who was a bestseller and visited Japan for few months to research Manga culture, to the Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum in Takarazuka City, Hyogo Prefecture. I had known the museum for a long time, but it was also my first visit there. The director of the museum showed us the collections starting with a history of Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989), the godfather of modern Japanese Manga. Tezuka's great works such as "New Treasure Island (Shin-Takarajima)," "Kimba, the White Lion (Jungle Taitei)," "Princess Knight (Ribbon-no-Kishi)," "Black Jack" and others were well displayed.
http://en-f.tezuka.co.jp/ Right after the World War II, "Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atom)" became a Manga hero for the Japanese kids including me. The director saw us off at the front door of the museum after taking a group photo in front of a big figure of "Phoenix (Hi-no-Tori)" which was also Tezuka's masterpiece.#
I had a chance to visit Kyoto International Manga Museum where an exhibit called "World Manga Exhibition: The Summit of Manga" was held. It was quite interesting to see a variety of Manga from the U.S., France, Germany, Belgium, Australia and Southeast Asian countries. I found out that some of them were Japanese Manga with English, French, German and other languages. My heart leaped up when I saw many editions of "Superman," who was my hero in early childhood, on the shelves. Manga characters could give a great impact on the people, especially when they are young. And I highly respect the idea to establish such a unique museum in Kyoto.#
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