Astro Boy Flies Through Kyoto Station

For over 10 years the massive Kyōto Station was home to Tezuka Osamu World. Tezuka Osamu was the creator of Astro Boy, known in Japanese as Tetsuwan Atomu 「鉄腕アトム The Might Atom」or simply Atomu. When I first visited Kyōto in the spring of 2009, this statue of Astro Boy stood proudly in front of the ground floor entrance of the station. A year later, it was gone.

Tezuka Osamu World 「手塚治虫ワールド Tezuka Osamu Waarudo」 closed its doors in 2010. In the same year the Tezuka Osamu World in Tokyo also closed.

Astro Boy statue at Kyōto Station

Near the Astro Boy statue at Kyōto Station stood another of Tezuka’s creations: Kimba the White Lion. The statues were on top of visitor information panels, and pointed the way to Tezuka Osamu World.

View this location – Map coordinates: 34.986, 135.759.

Today Tezuka’s works are kept in manga museums across Japan. The Osamu Tezuka Memorial Hall in Takarazuka City in Hyōgo Prefecture (next to Kyōto, near and Ōsaka). Tezuka grew up in Takarazuka City