Ishinomori Manga Museum (石ﾉ森萬画館, Ishinomori Manga Kan) is located on an island on the Kitakami River. The museum is dedicated to Ishinomori Shotaro, a famous manga artist, who is known as the creator of Kamen Rider. His other influential work includes Himitsu Sentai Gorenger, which was the first sentai ranger series. That particular series served as the basis for the U.S. Power Rangers franchise. Ishinomori Shotaro lived in Ishinomaki for many years and was raised within the Miyagi Prefecture. The oval shape of the building was to give it a futuristic look symbolic of Ishinomori Shotaro’s work. The museum houses over 500 individual volumes of manga (Japanese comic) that the artist worked on or created himself. One of the ways to reach the museum from Ishinomaki Station is to follow the Manga Road where dozens of character statues are scattered along the path. The iron life sized statues are from Ishinomori’s works ranging from superheroes to beloved characters. The 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami flooded the entire first floor, but the 90,000 pages of artwork were not damaged. Great efforts were made to repair and restore the building, which now stands as a symbol for reconstruction efforts in Ishinomaki.
