Nintendo Co., Ltd. welcomed media and industry guests to its newly completed Nintendo Museum in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, ahead of its October 2 public opening, transforming the historic Uji Ogura Plant into the company's first permanent museum dedicated to its 135-year history. Originally constructed in 1969 to manufacture Hanafuda and Western playing cards and later serving as Nintendo's primary customer repair center, the sprawling complex has been redesigned as a cultural showcase of Japanese entertainment innovation.
Guided by Nintendo Representative Director and Fellow Shigeru Miyamoto—the legendary creator of Super Mario, Donkey Kong, and The Legend of Zelda—the second-floor exhibition hall presents almost every physical product published or manufactured by Nintendo since Fusajiro Yamauchi founded the company in Kyoto in 1889. Visitors walk beneath suspended canopies of global console hardware, comparing regional variations of the Family Computer (Famicom) and Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) alongside hundreds of original game cartridges and box designs.
From 1889 Hanafuda Cards to Global Console Milestones
Before Nintendo entered the microchip revolution, the company experimented with dozens of mechanical novelties in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Ultra Hand extendable grabber created by late engineer Gunpei Yokoi, the Love Tester, indoor pitching machines, and baby strollers. The museum places these early analog inventions side by side with modern motion-controlled Wii remotes and Nintendo Switch gameplay to illustrate a continuous design philosophy centered on family creativity.
On the first floor, the museum shifts from archival preservation to hands-on play across eight interactive experiences powered by digital 'Play Coins' loaded onto each visitor's entry pass. Guests can team up in pairs to operate human-sized Famicom, Super Famicom, Nintendo 64, and Wii controllers—where one player maneuvers a giant directional pad while a partner leaps to press oversized action buttons.
“By preserving everything Nintendo has created over 135 years in one place, we want visitors across generations to understand how our dedication to originality and family entertainment has remained unchanged.”
Giant Two-Player Controllers and Interactive Play Coin Experiences
Another centerpiece attraction, the 'Zapper & Scope SP,' converts the floor into a giant 1970s laser-clay shooting gallery where up to 13 players simultaneously aim light guns at virtual Mario enemies across a panoramic screen. Visitors can also craft their own traditional Hanafuda flower cards in dedicated workshops and dine at the 'Hatena Burger' café, which offers customizable burger combinations inspired by Nintendo worlds.
To prevent overcrowding in the quiet residential neighborhood next to Ogura Station, Nintendo has instituted a strict advance-only ticketing system allocated through monthly online lotteries priced at 3,300 yen ($23) for adults. Tourism officials in Kyoto Prefecture expect the museum to draw hundreds of thousands of domestic and international visitors annually, complementing Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka.
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