Astro Boy

Astro Boy is a Japanese manga/anime character first introduced in 1963.  I remember in the 1970s they were broadcasting English dubbed versions on a couple Canadian television stations so as a kid I was well aware, and excited by, Astro Boy’s existence.  Because of this early childhood fascination with Astro Boy it was quite fitting for him to be the first character I saw once we exited the Kyoto train station.  Memories of running around the house in pulled up red socks flooded back to me when I saw our robot friend here:

Since we’re on the theme of manga (Japanese comic books) and anime (Japanese animation), I had the pleasure of going to the Kyoto International Manga Museum. 

  Beyond Japanese manga the museum also featured several exhibits dedicated to other forms of comics books internationally.  My personal childhood favorites, Tintin (Belgian) and Asterix (France) were featured as well as the original Smurf comics from Belgian.  The international selection of manga was small in comparison to the Japanese offerings.  The Kyoto International Manga Museum is essentially a huge, multi-floored library where you can go in and read comics.  If you’re a comics fan, this place is a dream come true.  A annual membership allows you unlimited access all the manga in the building.  As you can see by the photographs below, the walls are lined with thousands of manga!

 

Thank you Kyoto for bringing back that carefree, excitable kid in the silly red socks!

No, I’m not wearing my Astro Boy red socks in this photo but if I remember correctly, I was wearing some pretty snazzy red undies!