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Super Mario, Donkey Kong, Link – the mere mention of these names conjures fond memories for millions of gamers around the world.
Whole generations have grown up with these heroes from the Japanese video game developer Nintendo. These are cult figures, legends even – and a piece of pop culture history.
Fans can now find out how it all began at the world’s only Nintendo Museum, near Kyoto in Japan.
The nostalgic journey through the company’s history is a mixture of products and interactive exhibits.
The telling of the company’s 135-year history – from its beginnings in the 19th century to the present day – begins with a lift ride to the first floor of the museum.
Your eyes are immediately drawn to oversized consoles from the various Nintendo eras hanging from the ceiling; the Nintendo Entertainment System – known as the Famicom in some markets – from 1983, and cult Game Boy, all the way up to the current Nintendo Switch.

The idea was to create a place where three generations of a family can look back on their video-game experiences and where visitors can exchange ideas, explains Shigeru Miyamoto.
Nintendo’s legendary video game designer, who originally wanted to be a manga artist, became one of the most accomplished designers of all time with franchises such as Super Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda and Pikmin.
“Each person can have their own space that they have fond memories of that they want to visit,” is how Miyamoto describes the concept. The consoles are also on display in their original packaging, along with the accessories and games that go with them.
The games can be seen playing on monitors above and heard over loudspeakers.
“It’s also very surprising for me to realise that all of these figures are more than 20 years old,” says Miyamoto. Fans also see just how far console graphics have come over the years.

The circular exhibition ranges from hanafuda playing cards, with which Nintendo’s history began back in 1889, to board games and other toys from the 1950s to 1970s, and then video game consoles.
The initial concept was to display Nintendo products. “But when I put myself in the visitors’ shoes, I wanted to at least take a little bit of a look behind the scenes, something we hadn’t been able to do before,” says Miyamoto.
That is why there is also a section with prototypes, in which various concepts for the Wii Balance Board are shown.
But what would a Nintendo Museum be if you could not also play there? Once they have checked out the range of exhibits, visitors can proceed to the ground floor. There are eight different games to discover, which reflect the diversity of the Nintendo universe while at the same time create new experiences.
In a modern version of the Game & Watch, the first handheld pocket-sized console released by Nintendo in the 1980s, visitors interact with a game projected onto the wall using their shadows. There are two games to play: Ball, the first Game & Watch game, and Manhole.

In a kind of digital version of the traditional hanafuda card game, visitors can use smart devices to search for matching images projected onto the floor. A real hit is Zapper & Scope SP, a light-based shooting game that is reminiscent of the bowling alleys that Nintendo converted into shooting ranges in the 1970s.
On a huge, cinema-like screen, you can use the Zapper and the Super Scope to shoot at Mario’s antagonists and compete with other museum visitors.
The Nintendo Classics area is where things get really nostalgic. For a limited time, visitors can try out more than 80 NES, Super NES or Nintendo 64 games. Classics like Mario Kart, Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda are part of the selection.
It is worth noting that each entrance ticket is loaded with just 10 digital coins. They will not last long and there is no way of buying more coins in the museum.
If you want to play some more, you will have to register for a new ticket on a different day. These are only available by a lottery on the museum’s official website. No more than 1,500 to 2,000 visitors will be allowed in per day, the museum says.

The museum building, a few minutes’ walk from Ogura railway station in the city of Uji, is a part of Nintendo history.
Founded in 1889 as a manufacturer of playing cards, the company used the Uji Ogura factory, which was built in 1969, to produce playing cards. From 2016, it was used as a warehouse, before Nintendo turned it into a museum. The area in front of the museum is paved with pixel designs from the Super Mario games.
Miyamoto explains that the museum is intended to express “that we are first and foremost an entertainment company” – meaning more than just a video game company.
Every year, between 100 and 200 new employees start working at Nintendo, “and every year I give a talk about what Nintendo is”, says Miyamoto. It lasts around two hours. “After doing this for 20 years, I kind of don’t want to do it any more,” he laughs, giving another reason for why the museum was set up.
At the same time, the content of the museum should continue to evolve. The process of making changes and corrections is “exactly the same as with video games”, the famous designer says about the preparations. Changes were being made a few days before the opening.
“And as Nintendo develops new games and hardware, the museum will grow with it,” says Miyamoto. New products and games will be added to the exhibitions as they are released.
Sadly, more museums in other locations are not planned.


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The entrance to the first of three buildings of the new Nintendo Museum. Photo: AFP

The world’s only Nintendo Museum, which has opened in Japan, tells the story of the entertainment company’s rise to global video game brand from its card game origins. Photo: AFP

Visitors are seen at the Nintendo Museum in Uji, near Kyoto in Japan. Photo: Reuters

A visitor looking at a display of controllers at the Nintendo Museum. Photo: AFP

A digital version of the traditional hanafuda card game. Photo: AFP

A visitor playing Zapper & Scope SP at the Nintendo Museum. Photo: AFP

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Video game historian and game history book author and publisher Hiroyuki Maeda with a prototype of a handheld Nintendo game at his office in Tokyo. Photo: AFP

Maeda looks through a gaming history book. His considerable collection is housed in an old building near his home, two hours north of Tokyo. Photo: AFP

Vintage video game collector Proudro with some of the gaming memorabilia he has collected, at his home in Kasumigaura, Ibaraki prefecture. Photo: AFP

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Travel & Leisure

At world’s first Nintendo Museum, in Japan, learn about company’s rise from selling card games and play classic games on vintage consoles


At world’s first Nintendo Museum, in Japan, learn about company’s rise from selling card games and play classic games on vintage consoles.


Video gaming

Nintendo