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Peek into Togashi’s world at the Hunter x Hunter Story Board Exhibit at the Shinjō Mogami Manga Museum

The Shinjo Mogami Manga Museum Togashi Yoshihiro
Fans of Hunter x Hunter show their appreciation of the manga on a whiteboard at the exhibit.

From December 27, 2017 to February 25, 2018, the Shinjō Mogami Manga Museum held the Yoshihiro Togashi Hunter x Hunter Story Board Exhibit. At this exhibit, fans of this famous (or at times infamous) mangaka had the rare opportunity to see Togashi’s rough pencil drafts for the Dark Continent arc currently running in Weekly Shōnen Jump.

What is the Shinjō Mogami Manga Museum?

The Shinjō Mogami Manga Museum, located in the rural Shinjō City in Yamagata, Japan, opened in 2016. Most regions of Japan have a “meibutsu,” a specialty that is representative of the area, for example, matcha tea from Uji and okonomiyaki in Osaka. With this new museum, the Mogami District proclaims their meibutsu is mangaka, and no wonder. Many mangaka, including Chica Umino (Honey and Clover, March Comes in Like a Lion), Yutaka Abe ( Detective Conan: Crossroad in the Ancient Capital, Dragon Quest Seirei Rubisu Densetsu), Marie Abiko (Made in Yamagata), Richi Okada (Honke no Yome) and Masami Kaiwa (Momo ♥ Ichimoji), call Shinjō City and Mogami District their hometown.

Shinjō City is also Togashi’s hometown and his family’s paper store is only a short walk away from the museum.

Manga Planet had the chance to visit the exhibit and take photos for all our fans!

Yoshihiro Togashi Hunter x Hunter Story Board Exhibit

The Shinjo Mogami Manga Museum Togashi Yoshihiro
The bulk of the exhibit focused on the Hisoka vs Chrollo battle. Any fans of Hisoka out there?
The Shinjo Mogami Manga Museum Togashi Yoshihiro
Fans had the chance to see Hisoka at his most beautiful and terrifying.
The Shinjo Mogami Manga Museum Togashi Yoshihiro
The Shinjo Mogami Manga Museum is right next to the Shinjo Station. The poster of the Hunter x Hunter film greets visitors in the station.
The Shinjo Mogami Manga Museum Togashi Yoshihiro
The museum is a combination of a Mogami natural history exhibit along with a focus on the region’s mangaka.
The Shinjo Mogami Manga Museum Togashi Yoshihiro
Even though the real Togashi wasn’t at the exhibit, fans could take photos with the next best thing, his avatar.
The Shinjo Mogami Manga Museum Togashi Yoshihiro
Fans left artwork of their favorite characters on the exhibit’s whiteboard.
The Shinjo Mogami Manga Museum Togashi Yoshihiro
For the rough drafts, Togashi used notebook paper, binder paper, and pencil.
The Shinjo Mogami Manga Museum Togashi Yoshihiro
The exhibit had 200 pages of Togashi’s rough draft.
The Shinjo Mogami Manga Museum Togashi Yoshihiro
At the exhibit, you could read HUNTER X HUNTER in multiple languages.
The Shinjo Mogami Manga Museum Togashi Yoshihiro
The museum also has a shrine where you can pray. Mogami District is the “holy land” for mangaka after all.
The Shinjo Mogami Manga Museum Togashi Yoshihiro
Many fans left ema (prayer boards) with illustrations of their favorite characters.

Togashi’s Paper Store

At the nearby community center, friendly staff members guided us to the Togashi Paper Store. The famed mangaka’s mother still runs the store and if you have the chance, you can say hello to her and see where Togashi grew up.

The Shinjo Mogami Manga Museum Togashi
Togashi’s mother still manages the paper store. Here, you can buy stationary and other paper goods like toilet paper.
The Shinjo Mogami Manga Museum Togashi
Togashi’s store has special illustrations from Yu Yu Hakusho and HUNTER X HUNTER.
The Shinjo Mogami Manga Museum Togashi
Even though it is a paper store, this modest establishment is well stocked with goods of Togashi’s manga.
The Shinjo Mogami Manga Museum Togashi
You can even buy the latest JUMP as well as HUNTER X HUNTER manga.
The Shinjo Mogami Manga Museum Togashi
Togashi Paper Store is better stocked than most anime goods stores in Japan.
The Shinjo Mogami Manga Museum Togashi
If you buy notebooks at the store, you can receive a bag with a Yu Yu Hakusho stamp.
The Shinjo Mogami Manga Museum Togashi
Togashi drew the illustration on the notebooks above. These notebooks are only available at the Togashi Paper Store.
The Shinjo Mogami Manga Museum Togashi
The mangaka also designed this gift bag for his mother.

 

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