A hugely popular, long-running comic series featuring a daring and energetic policeman in Japan ended in 2016, but memories of the "Kochikame" manga are now being revived in a museum to open in Tokyo next week.



Media reporters were allowed to enter the Kochikame Kinenkan museum in Kameari, Katsushika Ward, on Thursday. The powerful protagonist Ryotsu Kankichi, called "Ryo-san," is featured everywhere inside.



The comedy manga's title can be translated as "This is the police box in front of Kameari Park in Katsushika Ward." The manga series was published in the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine for 40 years.



The five-story museum's entrance is modeled after a police box, with desks of "Ryo-san," the police officer, and his colleagues.



One floor is full of copies of original drawings for the series, archiving its four decades of history. Another has a space for playing various games related to the manga.



The museum also has Ryo-san's room, and a "shrine" that offers visitors a chance to get a fortune-telling slip. Kameari's history and scenery are also on display.



"Kochikame" cartoonist Akimoto Osamu told reporters he is so pleased that what he created in the past has at long last taken shape. He assured visitors they will enjoy the exhibits which the enthusiastic museum staff had prepared.



Katsushika Mayor Aoki Katsunori said he hopes many people will enjoy Kameari and its "Kochikame" world.



The museum is scheduled to open on March 22. Admission tickets need to be booked in advance, but they may be available at the door if it is not crowded.