The Kyoto International Manga Museum (about ¥1,200), Toei Kyoto Studio Park (about ¥2,800), the Nidec Kyoto Tower deck (about ¥900) and one Subway & Bus 1-Day Pass (about ¥1,100). Add about ¥600 for the Museum of Kyoto, and the Keihan fares on day 2.
Best time to go
October 9 to December 20, 2026, when both Keihan anime collaborations run at Kyoto Tower at the same time. Autumn is Kyoto's busiest season, so book hotels early.
Closing days
The Manga Museum is closed on Wednesdays (the next weekday after a Wednesday holiday) and over New Year. Toei Kyoto Studio Park publishes its closing days on a calendar we could not read: check it before you fix the date.
Walking (our estimate)
Moderate: roughly 6–8 km on day 1 around the city, and 5–7 km around the film sets on day 2.
Kyoto is where a lot of anime is actually made, but very little of that is open to visitors. What is open is a city museum of manga run with Kyoto Seika University, a working film backlot with a licensed Evangelion attraction, two official character shops, and the collaborations Keihan Electric Railway stages at Kyoto Tower every autumn. This route strings them together in two days and never sends you to a studio, a memorial or anyone's front door. It is a different trip from our Sound! Euphonium route through Uji, and the two fit together neatly.
Times, fares and opening hours are approximate. Check the official pages under Sources before you go (last checked September 20, 2026).
Day 1
Central Kyoto: manga museums and the tower
The Manga Museum in the morning, the Museum of Kyoto and the character shops after lunch, Kyoto Tower at dusk.
Morning
Kyoto International Manga Museum
Take the Kyoto Subway Karasuma Line two stops north from Kyoto Station to Karasuma-Oike; the museum is right outside. It is run jointly by Kyoto City and Kyoto Seika University in a converted 1929 elementary school, and about 50,000 volumes on its "Manga Wall" are free to read anywhere in the building and the lawn. Open 10:00–17:00, last admission 16:30; about ¥1,200 for adults, ¥400 for junior-high and high school students, ¥200 for elementary. Closed on Wednesdays.
Late morning
The Museum of Kyoto
About 5 min on foot from the Manga Museum. The prefectural museum's general exhibition is about ¥600 for adults, free for high school students and under, and runs roughly 10:00–19:30 with last entry at 19:00. From November 28, 2026 to January 11, 2027 its third-floor gallery holds a Go Nagai retrospective (Mazinger Z, Devilman, Cutie Honey) staged as a Noto earthquake recovery show. The admission for that special exhibition had not been published when we checked.
Midday
Lunch around Shijo
Walk south into the Shijo shopping streets. Nishiki Market is a few minutes east if you want to graze rather than sit down; it gets very crowded, and several stalls ask you not to eat while walking.
Early afternoon
Pokémon Center Kyoto
On the 2nd floor of SUINA Muromachi at the Shijo-Muromachi crossing, open roughly 10:00–20:00 every day. New trading card sets are sometimes sold by lottery, announced on the shop's own page. Nintendo KYOTO, on the 7th floor of Kyoto Takashimaya S.C. about 10 min east, is worth the detour if you also play the games, though it is a game store rather than an anime one.
Back at Kyoto Station, the basement and lower floors of the Kyoto Tower building are free to walk through. During the Keihan Sound! Euphonium collaboration (to December 20, 2026), spending about ¥1,500 in one go at a participating shop gets you a limited sticker, with a different design from November 1. Starbucks, Matsumoto Kiyoshi and mobile orders are excluded.
Evening
Nidec Kyoto Tower observation deck
The deck is 100 m up, open 10:00–21:00 with last entry at 20:30, and costs about ¥900 for adults, ¥700 for high school students and ¥600 for elementary and junior-high. Through autumn 2026 it carries Keihan's official Sound! Euphonium event (September 1 to December 20, 2026), and from October 9, 2026 to January 11, 2027 a second Kyoto Animation collaboration, The 20th Century Electric Catalogue, runs alongside it. Between October 9 and December 20 both are on at once.
Evangelion and tokusatsu at the Toei film backlot, then the collaboration stations on the way back.
Morning
Kyoto Station → Toei Kyoto Studio Park
The park's own access page puts it about 20 min from Kyoto Station. Arrive by the Randen tram to Uzumasa Koryuji (about 5 min on foot to the main gate) or by JR to Uzumasa (about 5 min to the studio gate, which admits visitors until 17:00). A 1-day ticket is about ¥2,800 for anyone junior-high age and up and about ¥1,600 for children aged three to elementary.
Late morning
Evangelion Kyoto Base
A standing, officially licensed Evangelion attraction in the park's Attraction Plaza, included in the park ticket with no surcharge. Last entry is about 17:15. Because the park is a working backlot, the streets around it are the same Edo-period sets Toei still films on.
On the 2nd floor of the Padios building, roughly 10:00–18:00 and also included in the park ticket. If you are here between September 12 and November 29, 2026, the park is also running its Yokai Festival. The park publishes its closing days on a calendar we could not read: check it before you fix the date.
Afternoon
Back east to the Keihan line
From October 9 to December 28, 2026, life-size panels from The 20th Century Electric Catalogue stand outside the ticket gates on the Osaka-bound side of Keihan Fushimi-Inari Station, and a collaboration nameplate is on platform 1 at Chushojima until January 11, 2027. Fushimi Inari Taisha itself has no official anime tie that we could find: fans say otherwise, but the shrine and the rights holders do not.
Late afternoon
The Fushimi stamp points
The same campaign runs a digital stamp rally with six points, three of them in Kyoto: the Matsumoto Shuzo brewery in Fushimi, Chourakukan in Gion, and the confectioner Surugaya Gion Shitazato. Matsumoto Shuzo is a working brewery, so treat it as a photo from the street. A free printed location booklet is handed out at major Keihan stations from October 9, 2026.
Evening
Back to Kyoto Station
Keihan to Tofukuji, then one JR stop to Kyoto Station, or the subway back from Sanjo via Karasuma-Oike. Allow an hour if you are catching a Shinkansen.
Where to stay
Hotel links go straight to the booking site. We get nothing from them.
Stay in
Kyoto
Night 1. Staying near Kyoto Station puts you on the Karasuma subway line for day 1 and on the direct run out to Uzumasa on day 2.
Unlimited travel for one calendar day (not 24 hours) on both Kyoto city subway lines, city buses and several private bus companies, with small discounts at about fifty facilities. This is the pass that fits day 1. Note that Kyoto City's old bus-only 1-Day Pass was withdrawn: any guide still listing it is out of date.
Check pass prices Official infoSome links here are partner links: we get a commission if you book through them, at no extra cost to you.
Kyoto Subway 1-Day Pass
About ¥800 (adult), ¥400 (child)
The cheaper option if you stay on the Karasuma and Tozai lines, which is most of day 1. Sold at station windows and ticket machines, and it takes ¥100 off adult admission to Nijo Castle on the same day.
About ¥1,100 (1 day) or ¥1,300 (24 hours); the Kyoto-Osaka version about ¥1,650 / ¥1,850
For visitors to Japan. Covers the Keihan line through Kyoto, which is what day 2 uses for the collaboration stations at Fushimi-Inari and Chushojima, and connects on to Uji. A Kyoto-Osaka version costs more and reaches Osaka.
Compare passes Official infoSome links here are partner links: we get a commission if you book through them, at no extra cost to you.
Visiting with respect
The Manga Museum is full of people reading, including children on the floor and the lawn. Keep your voice down and ask staff before photographing anyone.
Toei Kyoto Studio Park is a working film studio. Filming may be under way on the open sets: follow staff instructions and don't photograph where signs say not to.
Fushimi-Inari and Chushojima are ordinary commuter stations. Stand behind the platform line, take your photo quickly and let people past.
Matsumoto Shuzo is a working sake brewery and Chourakukan is a restaurant and hotel. A stamp point is not an invitation to wander in.
Gion has posted rules on photography in its private lanes, and fines for ignoring them. Stay on the main streets.
FAQ
Can I visit Kyoto Animation?
No. The studios are workplaces and are not open to visitors, and there is no memorial site to call on. Kyoto Animation's own retailer page lists no physical shop anywhere in Japan; its goods are sold online.
Are the Kyoto Tower collaborations on when I go?
They are dated events, not permanent displays. The Sound! Euphonium collaboration runs September 1 to December 20, 2026 and the 20th Century Electric Catalogue one runs October 9, 2026 to January 11, 2027. The observation deck is open all year regardless.
Is Fushimi Inari Taisha an anime spot?
Fans say so, and the shrine appears in several series, but we could not find the connection published by the shrine or by any rights holder. The one official anime installation in that area is the character panel display at Keihan Fushimi-Inari Station, and it is dated.
Is there a Jump Shop in Kyoto?
No. Shueisha's official Jump Shop site lists only the Jimbocho store in Tokyo. The two Donguri Kyowakoku shops in Higashiyama sell official Studio Ghibli goods, but they are franchise shops, not exhibitions.
What about the Nintendo Museum in Uji?
It is about video games rather than anime, and tickets are sold by lottery to Nintendo Account holders months ahead, so you cannot build a fixed itinerary around it. Treat it as a bonus if you win a slot.
Is there an anime convention in Kyoto?
Yes: KYOMAF, the Kyoto International Manga Anime Fair, is organised with Kyoto City and is held in September at Miyako Messe and ROHM Theatre Kyoto, with the Manga Museum as a satellite venue. The 2027 dates had not been announced when we checked.
Combine with nearby routes
Have more days? These routes start or end close to this one.
