Nintendo Museum

The Nintendo Museum in Uji, Kyoto, showcases Nintendo’s evolution from 1889 to the present, featuring interactive exhibits and a workshop for creating Hanafuda cards.

Planning your visit

The Nintendo Museum opened in Uji in 2024, on the site of a former Nintendo factory, and it covers a company most visitors do not realise was founded in 1889 — making playing cards. The exhibition traces that arc: hanafuda cards, toys, the Love Tester and light-gun games of the 1960s and 70s, the Game & Watch, the Famicom, and every console and handheld since, displayed as one continuous history of a company that kept reinventing what it made.

The upper floor is the archive display; the lower floor is interactive, with oversized controllers requiring two people to operate, historical games playable, and a hanafuda workshop where visitors make their own cards.

The critical practical point is ticketing: entry is by advance lottery application only, drawn months ahead, with no walk-up availability. Demand vastly exceeds capacity. This is the single biggest obstacle to visiting, and it catches many people out.

Uji is south of Kyoto, better known for green tea and the Byodoin temple.

Bookable options include entry tickets and tours combining the museum with the Uji river area. Current availability is shown below.