On November 2, 2025, “Chikatsuku9” was held at the Kyoto International Manga Museum.

Chikatsuku is a fan-creation event celebrating Get on! Kyoto City Subway (known in Japanese as Chikatetsu ni Noru), the beloved PR-character series from the Kyoto City Subway and its partners. In this report, we’ll give you a photo-filled look at what went down at this year’s 9th annual gathering!

What is Chikatsuku?

Chikatsuku kicked off back in 2016, making this year its 9th anniversary. It is what you’d call a doujinshi market (同人誌即売会), a convention built by fans who absolutely love the Get on! Kyoto City Subway series. Even through the covid-19 pandemic, the event never missed a year, adapting to social conditions to keep the streak alive. Chikatsuku9 saw a bump in attendance, with 30 fan circles (teams of creators) participating—more than ever before. Each had their own booth, selling and displaying their amazing fan-creation works.

The Manga Museum’s character: Karasuma Miyu is cheering on Chikatsuku!

Did you know that the Kyoto International Manga Museum has its own PR character named Karasuma Miyu? Born in 2014, she was brought to life by Kamogawa, the same illustrator famous for the Get on! Kyoto City Subway.

This third-year university student promotes the charms of the Kyoto subway and the museum on platforms like X. She even showed up at the event to take photos with fans! You can follow Miyu on X here: https://x.com/MIYU_Karasuma/

A collab cafe

Maeda Coffee, the museum cafe, also got in on the fun with a special collab menu for Chikatsuku9. I ordered the latte art featuring the event’s name and Karasuma Miyu. There were three other designs available, too!

The scene at the venue

Before the doors even opened at 11 AM, a line of about 20 attendees had already formed. As the day went on and lunchtime hit, the venue got even livelier. In a way that’s unique to the Kyoto International Manga Museum, the crowd was not just old-school Get on! Kyoto City Subway fans; there were also international tourists and families out enjoying their holiday.

Life-sized character standees

A bunch of life-sized character standees also “came to visit” the event. How often do you get to see this many characters gathered in one place?

(From Left) Karasuma Miyu, Uzumasa Moe, Uzumasa Rei, Kyouno Tsukasa

(From Left) Ise Kyouka, Shijo Miyabi, Kitayama Kakeru, Ono Ryo

Kitayama Kakeru and Nijo Aoi

Matsuga Saki(Left), Ono Misa(Right)

Anthology “Welcome to the Underground” was here again!

The collaborative doujinshi (goudoushi) Welcome to the Underground 9, made it back from the printers just in time and found its way into the hands of many attendees. “Kyoto is home to major printing company factories, so if you go pick it up yourself, you can cut the deadline really close”, one of the participants told us.

The anthology is a massive work, clocking in at over 50 pages—even thicker than last year’s. It is an awesome collection packed with fan illustrations, manga, short stories featuring Uzumasa Moe and her friends, and even subway sightseeing tips. If you are thinking, “I missed out this time…” don’t worry! You will likely have a chance to grab it as a back-issue at next year’s Chikatsuku, or get your hands on the new one. Definitely check it out!

Introduction of fan works

Here’s a peek at some of the amazing booths and items from the creators!

Keychains

A keychain replicating the recently retired Series 10 (1st Genenration) train, Uzumasa Moe, and the destination sign. A piece by 大淀久明.

Kyoto City Fire Department’s bunker gear experience

Since Kitayama Kakeru and Nijo Aoi are official characters for the Kyoto City Fire Department, the department joined the event! At their booth, you could try on actual bunker gear.

All-in for Karasuma Miyu

So much merch for the Kyoto International Manga Museum’s PR character, Miyu Karasuma! Work by たたみもち and 松尾橋ぷるこ.

Papercraft trio

A papercraft scene recreating Ono Misa, Uzumasa Moe, and Matsuga Saki riding the subway. A piece by hide_kyoto.

You could get a “skeb” done!

This photo shows a skeb (sketchbook), a classic part of doujinshi market culture. It is when an attendee leaves their sketchbook at a creator’s booth to get an illustration drawn for them. You could see attendees at Chikatsuku9 requesting drawings of their favorite characters.

Cosplays

Matsuga Saki by 仁野コハク.

Ono Misa by 冷水優果.

“Miyakoman” inspired by Miyako-kun. Cosplayed by ミヤコマン.

The mission of fan-creations

That wraps up our report on Chikatsuku9! Having safely concluded its 9th event, Chikatsuku is now heading for its 10th memorial year. “We want to make next year’s event even bigger, something worthy of a 10th anniversary”, a member of the organizing committee told us enthusiastically. You can look back on memories from the event by searching #ちかつくっ私の思い出 on X.

When you think about it, holding an “only event” (a fan convention dedicated to one content) for a piece of local promotional content (gotouchi) like Get on! Kyoto City Subway can be pretty rare, even on a national scale. Maybe it only works because characters like Uzumasa Moe are such a part of daily life for Kyoto’s residents. In 2025, we saw a lot of official events, like the animation exhibition in May, which promoted the series to a wide audience. At the same time, however, fan-driven approaches like this can broaden the base and spread the content’s charm even further. As a way to keep Get on! Kyoto City Subway going strong, fan-creation events like this play a huge and important role.