Two fliers from recent exhibits at the museum: Jungle Emperor and Doraemon. Image courtesy of the Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum

The basement studio, complete with a life-size model of the artist at work, is a great educational experience. The talking Tezuka puppet introduces his profession and then along clean, long light tables, visitors can make their own four-cel production. Visitors take a seat at the animation light tables and the charming assistant passes out pencils, three-hole-punched paper and animation pegs. Then with their own imaginations and the directions on the console, they can make their own films. Once finished, the assistant then manipulates the cels, expanding them in video time, and projects them on a television monitor. Surely, this has been the start of many a career. The idea behind this memorial was to be a place where people would interact with each other through comics and animation emphasizing education. The museum is more than a success, it's a national archive and one not to be missed.

Watching the 1980 epic animation Phoenix 2772, released in theaters in 1980 by the Toho movie company, one can only think of this incredible bird changing the lives of many, to be a representation of Tezuka's own spirit. He saw a need in the Japanese society for vehicles of imagination and change and he created many of them.

The Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum is open daily except Wednesdays, 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For information and directions, contact the museum by phone (81) 0797-81-2970 or fax (81) 0797-81-3660.

Jackie Leger is a Santa Monica, California-based writer specializing in independent animation.