Mapof
BuildingHighlights
This museum was constructed by replicating a mid-20th-century
apartment building called “Tokiwaso.” It was home to many

①Telephone Booth●②●“Tokiwaso” Signpost③Staircase●④Toilet●In the days of the Tokiwaso
apartment building, not all homes
had a telephone, and letters andtelegraphs were still common
means of communication.
To contact their publishers,
the manga artists used a public
telephone located next tothe “Tokiwaso” signpost.
The telephone booth outside is
the same cream color that it
would have been back in the day,and even the blue color of thetelephone itself has beenreproduced.

“Tokiwaso” was written in large
characters on a signpost thatstood at the corner of the path infront of the building. The sign
post was remade several times,
and the museum has replicated it
as a square pillar with writing in
two diﬀerent styles. Did you
notice the diﬀerences in thefonts? This signpost is themuseumʼs most popular spot totake pictures. How about getting
into the spirit of a manga artist
and taking a commemorativeshot?

The stairs of the original Tokiwaso
building creaked loudly underfoot,a sound eﬀect that also appears inmanga. This museum replicateseven the creaking of the originalstairs. The sound apparently alerted
the manga artists to the arrival of
their editors. Whether they werestraining under the pressure ofdeadlines or eagerly awaiting newsof a job oﬀer, the creaking of
the stairs must have made themanga artistsʼ hearts poundwith anticipation. Now, you canexperience it, too.

The buildingʼs toilets were unisex,
and in the days when the manga
artists lived there, they were pit
latrines. Waste dropped throughearthen pipes running from thesecond to the ﬁrst ﬂoor and into
a vault below.

Elevator
Room 23⑦●

Room 18⑧●Room 19⑨●
Room 20

Room 21

Room 22

into the lifestyles of those manga artists. Come and explore
its secrets !

④●Planned Exhibition RoomManga Lounge
Room 17

Room 16

Room 15

Room 14⑥●

PermanentExhibition Roommanga artists who worked, ate their meals, enjoyed their freetime, and spent their days here. The building oﬀers glimpses⑤●Elevator

2F1F

③
●⑩●②●

●Communal⑤Kitchen●Permanent⑥
Exhibition Room⑦●Room 18⑧
●Room 19⑨
●Room 20

⑩Exterior●Tokiwaso had two kitchens, one
on each ﬂoor, which were sharedby the residents. The sinks werealso used for face-washing anddoing laundry. This kitchen has
been faithfully reproduced under
the supervision of manga artists
who lived in Tokiwaso, so you
can enjoy a replicated spacethat is true to life.

This room introduces the historyof the Shiinamachi neighborhood,
where Tokiwaso was located.
Exhibits such as graphic panels,
dioramas, and photographs ofthe neighborhood in bygone days
provided by local residents
reveal its history from the Edo
period (1603‒1868) to the 20thcentury. If you get down to eyelevel with the dioramas, you canenjoy a realistic recreation of
how the neighborhood would
have looked back in the day.

This is a reproduction of theroom of Johji Yamauchi, who
was Shotaro Ishinomori ʼsassistant. The books and ﬁlm
canisters on the bookshelf are
actually Ishinomori ʼs. When hisown room got too full, heapparently stored them inYamauchi ʼs room next door.

This is a reproduction of theroom of Hideko Mizuno, theonly female manga artist tolive in Tokiwaso. She lived inthis room to collaborate on
manga with Shotaro Ishinomori
and Fujio Akatsuka under thejoint penname “U. Mia.”
She moved to Tokyo with just asingle wicker suitcase and lived
in Tokiwaso for only sevenmonths.

This is a reproduction of theroom of Tokuo Yokota, who
lived with Fujio Akatsuka
before he moved into Tokiwaso.
Yokota waited for a room inTokiwaso to open up and thenmoved into this room, as if hewere following Akatsuka.
He apparently watched profes
sional sumo matches andbaseball games, his favorite
pastimes, on a television that
he had purchased himself.

Considering that this building wasconstructed only a few years ago,
doesnʼt it look a bit old?
Actually, itʼs been subjected toaging treatment to recreate how
Tokiwaso would have looked adecade after it was built. The
exterior walls have been madeto look as if they are stained byrain and dirt. This attention todetail extends even to thefurniture and equipment in therooms, which have also beenmarked with signs of wear and tear.

(Johji Yamauchi ʼ s Room)(Hideko Mizunoʼ s Room)(Tokuo Yokotaʼ s Room)(Artisanal Aging Treatment)①●