A collection of more than two million comic books will be housed in the new Tokyo International Manga Library which will open in 2015 on the grounds of Meiji University.

Manga has long enjoyed a soaring popularity in Japan among salarymen, teenagers and even politicians – such as former prime minister Taro Aso – alike.

The new library, which will exhibit a small sample of the collection at the university later this week, aims to elevate the study the art of manga to a level on par with more serious academic subjects, according to its founders.