The museum's collection includes approximately 300,000 items as of 2016,[1] with 50,000 volumes of manga that can be accessed and read by visitors and approximately 250,000 items in its closed-stack collection, which can be accessed via a dedicated research room supported by reference facilities.

[2] Collected materials include Edo period woodblock prints, pre-war magazines, post-war rental books, and popular modern series from around the world.

The building that houses the Kyoto International Manga Museum was once Tatsuike Primary School.

From the time of its founding, Tatsuike Primary School played a leading role in education in Kyoto.

The project launch was announced by the Mayor of Kyoto City in December 2004 at a press conference.

[5] The Wall of Manga, which visitors may freely access, is the main feature of the museum's collection.

These include a room of plaster casts of the hands of manga and anime artists who have visited the museum, an exhibition of 100 maiko illustrations by various artists, a hanging sculpture of Tezuka Osamu's Hi no Tori character, and an exhibition called "What is Manga?"

[7] There is also a room dedicated to kamishibai, a traditional Japanese storytelling format that uses a combination of characterful narration and hand-drawn paper cards.

[10] Liana Smale was the one millionth visitor to the Kyoto International Manga Museum on August 26, 2010.