New Nintendo Museum Opens in Kyoto
A new Nintendo Museum has opened in Uji, Kyoto prefecture, where visitors can enjoy interactive experiences, learn about the company's history, and visit a cafe and gift shop.
The museum's main display area on the second floor features many of the famous video game systems that Nintendo has produced over its long history.
In this area you can find everything from the influential Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) — called the Famicom in Japan — which was released in 1983, to the Nintendo Switch of 2017. There is also an area that displays the toys and playing cards that Nintendo made before making video games.
On the first floor there are interactive exhibits where you can play a variety of games. When visitors enter the museum, they are given a special ticket loaded with digital coins that can be used to play these games.
These include a giant screen on the floor that you can walk across to play a traditional Japanese card game. Nintendo began as a playing card maker, and visitors can take part in a craft experience where they make their own traditional Japanese playing cards, called hanafuda. The museum itself is built on the site of a factory where such playing cards were made.
The Nintendo Museum opened on October 2, and tickets cost 3,300 yen — or about $23 — for adults.
But you can't just turn up at the museum and buy tickets on the day. If you want to visit the museum, you first need to enter a lottery three months before you plan to visit. If you are chosen, your ticket is reserved. But if not, you will have to see if any tickets are still available to buy in the two months before your visit.
