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Photo By: Monica Narang
Region
Kansai
Island
Honshu
Largest City
Kyoto
Population
2,644,331

Nintendo Museum

Witness the incredible evolution of Nintendo from its humble beginnings to the high-tech gaming consoles of today at the Nintendo Museum.

By Monica Narang

Nintendo is a Japanese video game company that originated in KyotoIn 1889, the company began developing and designing hanafuda (a type of playing card). This then led to Nintendo creating some of the most successful video game consoles and gaming franchises in history. In 2024, Nintendo opened the Nintendo Museum for fans to learn more about the company, play games and feel like a kid again.

Inside the Nintendo Museum

Nintendo Museum

Photo by: Monica Narang Walk across the hyakunin isshu karuta installation.

Upon entering the museum, Toad and his friends greet everyone with their signature cheers and laughs. Every visitor is given a card that has ten coins on it to play games on the first floor. The entire first floor resembles a giant arcade and is dedicated to super fun Nintendo games to play. In the center lies a massive digital hyakunin isshu karuta (a matching card game), which visitors can walk across while holding small devices to collect points.

On the second floor, visitors can listen to famous theme songs from Nintendo games in the tunnel. The entire second floor showcases the evolution of Nintendo games, with giant model controllers above each display area. Explore each section to see how Nintendo crafted and designed its entire range of games, from Mario Kart and beyond. It’s quite an impressive line-up and if you’re a Nintendo aficionado you can spend hours here appreciating all of Nintendo’s revolutionary games and consoles from the 1980s to today.

Nintendo Museum Highlights

Nintendo Museum

Photo by: Monica Narang Play the Zapper and Scope Game!

The big controller game room features Super Mario Bros. games designed for two people to play together. The Nintendo Classic area hosts old-school games to play including Mario Kart on a Nintendo 64 console and even games on retro Famicom consoles.

One of the most exciting experiences on this floor is the Zapper and Scope Game, where players compete against each other on a mega screen. Kids and adults alike have tons of games to choose from, including a cool shadow game on a wall.

Nintendo buffs can also design their own hanafuda cards. This workshop has an additional fee and requires reservations.

The Nintendo Museum Store sells exclusive items from giant controller pillows to hanafuda cards.

Things To Know

Hours and fees

The Nintendo Museum is open from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. daily, but is closed on Tuesdays. The Nintendo Museum costs ¥3,300 for adults, ¥2,200 for visitors between the ages of 12 and 17, and ¥1,100 for children six to 11 years old. 

Entry is free for young children under six years. Tickets are available on the Nintendo website through an advance lottery system for specific dates and times and you can enter the lottery up to three months in advance. 

The Nintendo Museum recommends taking public transportation as parking is not available for cars, motorcycles and bicycles.

How To Get There

Address

By train

The Museum is a five-minute walk from the East exit of Ogura station on the Kintetsu Railway Kyoto Line, an eight-minute walk from the North exit of JR Ogura station on the JR Nara Line, or a 22-minute walk from the North exit of Uji station on the JR Nara Line.

Where To Stay

Uji Tea Inn
  • 55 Oguracho, Uji-shi, Kyoto, 611-0042 Japan
  • ¥7,500 - ¥20,000
  • 4.5/5 (20 reviews)
  • 0.2 km
Uji Cha-gan-ju-tei House
  • 152-1 Uji, Uji-shi, Kyoto, 611-0021 Japan
  • ¥7,000 - ¥13,600
  • 4/5 (43 reviews)
  • 1.8 km
Tabibito Yado Kirinya
  • 4-4 Uji, Uji-shi, Kyoto, 611-0021 Japan
  • ¥4,300 - ¥4,500
  • 3.25/5 (30 reviews)
  • 2.1 km
Hanayashiki Ukifune-en
  • 20 Uji, Uji-shi, Kyoto, 611-0021 Japan
  • ¥36,450 - ¥108,000
  • 3.92/5 (236 reviews)
  • 2.7 km
Urban Hotel Kyoto
  • 4-59 Fukakusa Nishiuracho, Kyoto-shi Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, 612-0029 Japan
  • ¥20,350 - ¥20,350
  • 3.82/5 (3,928 reviews)
  • 7.5 km

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