If you’ve always been a fan of Nintendo video games, you’ll definitely be excited by the prospect of visiting the new Nintendo Museum in Uji in Kyoto prefecture. Start planning your trip now by finding out what’s available to see and do.

Nintendo Products Through Time

The main exhibition is a display of Nintendo products without much explanation. The idea is that you look at the items and they trigger memories. The array will take you back through time, showing you how video-gaming has evolved over the decades.

Play Experiences

The Nintendo Museum is not just about looking at things — there are all sorts of chances to play retro and modern games. The older-style games are enhanced with modern technology to make them more enjoyable.

To play any of the games, you need to pay with coins. Since visitors each receive just 10 coins, you’ll need to make your selection carefully. Most games require just one or two coins, but Zapper & Scope SP (which is set in Mario world) requires four.

Craft Workshops

There are a couple more interactive experiences for an additional fee in the Craft & Play section. These are workshops where visitors go back to the origin of Nintendo by creating Hanafuda playing cards. The first activity is in the craft room, where participants use a kit to make their own cards, choosing their preferred pattern from a selection of 12. They then color, fold, and paste the materials together to create four cards. The activity costs 2,000 yen and takes around 60 minutes.

If you’re coming with someone else, you can put the cards into action by playing Hanafuda. Someone at the museum will explain the rules (they are based on one of the most popular versions called hana-awase). To bring the experience alive, this uses image recognition and projections. You’ll need to pay an extra 500 yen per person for this experience, which lasts around 30 minutes.

You should make a reservation on the day of your visit if you want to participate in these activities.

How to Reach the Nintendo Museum

The Nintendo Museum is sure to prove popular enough that people all over Japan will want to visit. Here’s how to reach it, no matter where you’re based.

Reach Kansai by flying to any of the three main airports in the region.

  • Osaka International Airport is the closest. Leaving the airport, take the Hankyu Kanko Bus — this is a limousine sightseeing bus. It takes around 50 minutes to reach Kyoto Station.
  • Just a little farther is Kansai International Airport. The JR Haruka Limited Express will take you to Kyoto Station in around 80 minutes.
  • Your last option is to fly into Kobe Airport, but this is a little more complicated. You’ll need to take the Port Liner to Sannomiya Station, which takes 20 minutes. Then, you’ll need to take the JR Kobe line, which is another 60 minutes.

From Kyoto Station, take the Kintetsu Railway Kyoto Line to Ogura Station — the journey is around 20 minutes. From the East exit, just walk across the street to reach the museum.

Evan-Amos, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons