Key visual for the Uchujin Jin Gokon exhibition at the Kyoto International Manga Museum

Kyoto International Manga MuseumKarasuma-Oike

Uchujin Jin Gokon Exhibition (宇宙人神合懇展)

Upcoming25 November 2026 – 28 February 2027Free

Director Aramata Hiroshi's 20th-anniversary show imagining a future Kyoto shared with aliens and gods, premiering Baron Yoshimoto's 100 alien skull portraits.

Exhibition website

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On now All of November 2026

Preview: written before the show opened

Baron Yoshimoto, a manga artist since 1959, painted 100 portraits of alien skulls after what the museum calls a revelation from the heavens. They hang here for the first time anywhere, with titles like the skull of the Hydra H alien.

Director Aramata Hiroshi made the show for the museum's 20th birthday, picturing a future Kyoto where aliens live alongside people and gods keep watch. Around the skulls are about 200 lucky charms and talismans collected over his ten years in charge, plus work by Kyoto Seika University students, including a video in which strange creatures dance to thank you for coming. Read aloud, the title says gōkon, a group blind date, and this time the other side of the table really is from another planet.

It is a mini exhibition of about 360 items in Gallery 4 on the second floor, free with the ¥1,200 museum ticket. On opening day, 25 November, the whole museum is free. Closed Wednesdays.

Look for

The alien skull portraits
Look for Baron Yoshimoto's 100 original paintings of alien skulls, each named for its home star, from the Andromeda A alien to the Virgo M87K alien.
The dancing welcome video
A Kyoto Seika student's prize-winning video has strange creatures dance on the show's behalf to thank visitors for coming.
The guardian god of Kyoto
A god statue designed by a winning student and made with Aramata in the style of isshiki kazari, the Japanese craft of figures built from everyday objects.
A decade of charms
About 200 lucky charms and talismans from Japan and abroad, gathered by Aramata and the museum over his roughly ten years as director.
The street-observation photos
About 40 photographs and rubbings of odd sights that students found on the street on walks with Aramata.