From Friday, November 27, 2026, Tokiwaso-dori Showa Retro-kan (トキワ荘通り昭和レトロ館) in Toshima City, Tokyo, will host the "Gekiga & Kawaii Manga Exhibition: Milestones of Showa Manga" (Gekiga & Kawaii マンガ展 昭和マンガのマイルストーン). The exhibition is organized by Rainbow Bird LLC (レインボーバード合同会社), with planning, production, and operation by General Incorporated Association Manga Night (一般社団法人マンガナイト).
Using the "100 Manga of the Tokiwaso Era" (トキワ荘の時代のマンガ100選) selected in fiscal 2024 and 2025 (Reiwa 6 and 7), the exhibition looks at how "Showa manga" led to Japanese manga today, using commentary texts and reproductions of original art. It introduces works through two currents that greatly changed Showa manga expression, "gekiga" (劇画) and "kawaii" (カワイイ), so that manga fans from Japan and overseas can understand the historical context and the process of evolution of Japanese manga.
The exhibition is also bilingual. Displays are written in both Japanese and English, an English booklet is distributed, and the exhibition is designed to communicate through pictures across language barriers, aiming to improve the satisfaction of international visitors with the cultural experience.
Highlights: Two Currents That Shaped Manga
The exhibition focuses on two elements that gave great momentum to the growth of Japanese manga into a culture that reaches the world: serious, weighty "gekiga" and lovely, delicate "kawaii."
"Gekiga" was a new form of expression that manga acquired to depict human conflict and the harshness of the real world, as manga, once regarded as mere entertainment for children, widened its audience to young adults and eventually to all generations.
Meanwhile, the gorgeous design sense and rich lyricism nurtured in the world of shojo manga were themselves an expression that helped evolve manga, and also became one of the origins of the "Kawaii" culture that has spread around the world.
From the "100 Manga of the Tokiwaso Era," the exhibition picks works in which visitors can feel "gekiga" and "kawaii." Through reproduced original art, commentary texts, and comics that visitors can actually read at the venue, it offers two stories that connect Showa and present-day manga.
What Are the "100 Manga of the Tokiwaso Era"?
This is a project that selects and announces 100 titles worth reading forever from Japanese manga works published between 1952 and 1982, the era when Tokiwaso existed, and conveys them to readers in Japan and overseas. The 100 works were chosen by a book selection committee headed by Chair Machiko Satonaka (里中満智子).
- "100 Manga of the Tokiwaso Era" website: https://tokiwaso-era-manga100.rainbowbird.jp/?lang=jp
- Exhibition information: https://tokiwaso-era-manga100.rainbowbird.jp/event/gekiga%EF%BC%86kawaii/
Period 1 Featured Works
- Golgo 13 (ゴルゴ13) by Takao Saito (さいとう・たかを)
- 弓道士魂 by Hiroshi Hirata (平田弘史)
- Maki no Kuchibue (マキの口笛) by Miyako Maki (牧美也子)
- Chiisana Koi no Monogatari (小さな恋のものがたり) by Chikako Mitsuhashi (みつはしちかこ)
In addition to the works of the featured artists, comics of all the "100 Manga of the Tokiwaso Era" titles can be read at the venue.
Visitor Perks
Visitors receive an original postcard of the featured works as a perk (one of their choice from one design for each of the four artists). Visitors who answer a survey at the venue also receive a postcard of Kakitora-san (かきとらさん), the character of the "Tokiwaso town" (トキワ荘のまち).
Original goods for the exhibition are also planned for sale.
Basic Information
- Title: Gekiga & Kawaii Manga Exhibition: Milestones of Showa Manga (Gekiga ＆ Kawaii マンガ展 昭和マンガのマイルストーン)
- Period 1 dates: Friday, November 27, 2026 to Sunday, June 27, 2027
- Hours: 1:15 PM to 6:30 PM (last entry 6:00 PM)
- Closed: Every Monday (the following weekday if Monday is a national holiday), and the year-end and New Year holiday from Monday, December 28, 2026 to Monday, January 4, 2027
- Venue: E gallery, 1F, Tokiwaso-dori Showa Retro-kan (Toshima City Showa Historical and Cultural Memorial Hall, 豊島区立昭和歴史文化記念館)
- Address: 3-4-10 Minami-Nagasaki, Toshima City, Tokyo
- Admission (includes the visitor-perk postcard):
- General: ¥500
- Elementary and junior high school students: ¥100
- With English commentary booklet: ¥1,000
- Organizer: Rainbow Bird LLC (レインボーバード合同会社)
- Planning, production, and operation: General Incorporated Association Manga Night (一般社団法人マンガナイト)
Access
- Seibu Ikebukuro Line, Shiinamachi Station or Higashi-Nagasaki Station: about 13 minutes on foot
- Toei Oedo Line, Ochiai-Minami-Nagasaki Station: 8 minutes on foot
- Toei Bus (routes Ike 65 [池65], Shiro 61 [白61], and Neri 68 [練68]) or Kokusai Kogyo Bus / Kanto Bus (route Ike 11 [池11]), Minami-Nagasaki 2-chome stop: 3 minutes on foot
There is no parking lot or bicycle parking. Visitors arriving by bicycle can use the parking at the Tokiwaso Manga Museum (トキワ荘マンガミュージアム) or Tokyo Shinkin Bank (東京信用金庫).
About the Venue: E gallery Expansion
E gallery will be renovated and expanded in autumn 2026 to include the area within Tokiwaso-dori Showa Retro-kan known as "Manga Pit" (マンガピット). Going forward, the gallery plans and holds exhibitions where visitors can experience "Showa x manga."
With this expansion, Manga Pit has ended its operation as a large reading space where visitors could read the comics of Kore mo Gakushu Manga da! (これも学習マンガだ！) and of the selected works of the "100 Manga of the Tokiwaso Era" for free. Manga Pit will be reborn as a mini corner in front of the E gallery entrance, where visitors can continue to see an introduction to Kore mo Gakushu Manga da! and read some of the selected comics.
- The comics in the mini corner are rotated from time to time.
- The comics of the "100 Manga of the Tokiwaso Era" selected works can still be read inside E gallery.
Related Event: Tokiwaso-dori Exploration Rally
Both the exhibition and the rally are held as part of "Manga Sacred Ground Toshima: Tokiwaso-dori Inbound Revitalization" (マンガの聖地としま トキワ荘通りインバウンド活性化), a project selected for the fiscal 2026 (Reiwa 8) Japan Cultural Expo (日本博) subsidy program for creating region-specific cultural content. Centered on Tokiwaso-dori in the Minami-Nagasaki area of Toshima, known as the "Tokiwaso town," the project offers domestic and international tourists a deeper manga culture experience.
As a new program, "Tokiwaso-dori Exploration Rally: Helping Kakitora-san With Manga" (トキワ荘通り探訪ラリー〜かきとらさんのマンガお手伝い) starts on Saturday, November 7, 2026. It is a participatory, creative rally unique to the Tokiwaso town, in which participants complete an unfinished four-panel manga manuscript while observing the town.
Participants start by turning a panel-style capsule toy machine on the first floor of Tokiwaso-dori Showa Retro-kan to get a course tag from three courses in total. They exchange it for a four-panel rally sheet whose content differs by course, and begin the rally along Tokiwaso-dori. While completing the four-panel manuscript, participants can naturally learn about the Tokiwaso town and manga techniques.
Participants who complete a four-panel manuscript receive a commemorative sticker, and those who complete all three courses receive a commemorative can badge.
- Rally start point: In front of the E gallery entrance, 1F, Tokiwaso-dori Showa Retro-kan (Toshima City Showa Historical and Cultural Memorial Hall)
- Participation fee (includes a ticket clear file as a participation perk and a four-panel rally sheet):
- Japanese version: ¥500
- Japanese version for elementary and junior high school students, Toshima residents, and repeaters: ¥300 (repeaters receive only the four-panel rally sheet)
- English version: ¥1,000
- Organizer: Rainbow Bird LLC (レインボーバード合同会社)
- Planning, production, and operation: General Incorporated Association Manga Night (一般社団法人マンガナイト)
- Cooperation: Tokiwaso Collaboration Project Council (トキワ荘協働プロジェクト協議会)
The walk becomes more memorable with the smartphone app "Tokiwaso-dori AR Tour" (トキワ荘通りAR探訪), which became available in fiscal 2024 (Reiwa 6). App website: https://www.curiosity-inc.jp/tokiwasoar/jp/
