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For most people, real estate is an investment, but sometimes, a building goes on the market that is more than meets the eye. Maybe it was used to film an iconic movie scene or was the birthplace of someone famous. In the case of a building currently for sale in Japan, it is a former manga library that is still filled with thousands of vintage comics and magazines, including decades-old copies of Weekly Shonen Jump.

The former manga library in Sakata, Japan was listed for sale earlier this year and is going for the surprisingly low price of around $11,750. However, the interesting thing here isn’t the structure itself; it’s the fact that there are thousands of copies of vintage manga still on the bookshelves – many dating back to the 90s when the library was in full use.

As pointed out by YouTuber Yusuke Yoshikawa, who covers unusual real estate finds, during an interview, the property has captured the imagination of people both for the low price and for the novelty of such a unique building. “While there are certainly significant risks, there’s also something romantic about it, and I was happy to see so many responses that reflected that romance.”

The risks Yoshikawa mentioned are around the building itself, which has been neglected for several years and is almost certainly in dire need of either serious repairs or complete demolition. However, the comments on Yoshikawa’s post about the property include stories from local residents about the building being a haven for young kids in the 90s. Despite likely being a terrible financial investment, this long-abandoned manga library is a beloved part of the local area.

Each week, Popverse's resident anime expert Trent Cannon runs down the latest and, dare we say "greatest," in anime and manga in Popverse Jump. Some recent columns have included... 

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