Kyoto International Manga Anime Fair 2026: What First-Time Visitors Should Know

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If Tokyo's big fan conventions are what most international visitors picture first, Kyomaf is worth knowing about specifically because it isn't Tokyo — it's western Japan's answer, with its own venues and its own atmosphere.

Dates and a 15th-Anniversary Year

Kyomaf 2026 runs September 19–20, 2026. This year marks the event's 15th anniversary — a real milestone for an event that has become one of the largest manga, anime, and gaming gatherings in western Japan.

Three Venues, Not One

Rather than a single convention hall, Kyomaf spans three locations: Miyako Messe, ROHM Theatre Kyoto, and the Kyoto International Manga Museum. Miyako Messe and ROHM Theatre Kyoto operate 9 a.m.–5 p.m., while the Kyoto International Manga Museum keeps longer hours, 10 a.m.–7 p.m. First-time visitors should plan for some travel time between venues rather than assuming everything is in one building.

Why Kyoto Changes the Experience

Attending a manga and anime event in Kyoto rather than Tokyo means the surrounding city itself is part of the experience — temples, traditional streets, and the Kyoto International Manga Museum's own standing collection are all within reach of the fair's venues. For fans who've already been to a Tokyo-based convention, Kyomaf offers a genuinely different atmosphere rather than a smaller copy of the same thing.

What To Know

For fans who mainly know Tokyo-based conventions, Kyomaf offers something genuinely different: one of the largest manga, anime, and gaming events in western Japan, held in a city defined by traditional culture rather than a modern convention-center district. Reaching its 15th year in 2026 also makes it a well-established fixture rather than a newer event still finding its footing.

Kyomaf's multi-venue structure — spreading across Miyako Messe, ROHM Theatre Kyoto, and the Kyoto International Manga Museum — reflects Kyoto's own layout more than a single-hall convention would. The Kyoto International Manga Museum in particular is a genuine, standing museum dedicated to manga history, not a temporary event space, giving visitors a reason to explore it as an attraction in its own right, separate from the fair's temporary programming.

What Fans Are Saying

• "15 years running and still spread across three venues — Kyomaf has real staying power."
• "Never thought about visiting the actual Manga Museum outside of fair days, good to know it's a real museum."
• "A manga/anime event with Kyoto as the backdrop instead of a convention center sounds like a completely different vibe."

Original Japanese

• 「15年も続いていて、しかも3会場に分かれているのはすごい規模だと思う」
• 「マンガミュージアムがフェア期間外でも普通に博物館として存在してるの、知らなかった」
• 「会場が京都というだけで、コンベンションセンターとは全然違う雰囲気になりそう」

Easy Japanese

「京まふ」こと京都国際マンガ・アニメフェアは、2026年で15周年を迎えます。9月19日と20日、京都の複数の会場で開催されます。