Given all that Nintendo has done for the world of gaming, it’s almost crazy to think that a physical location celebrating everything they’ve done took this long to come about. Starting on October 2, 2024, the Nintendo Museum opened its doors in Kyoto for Nintendo fans everywhere. This certainly isn’t the first (and won’t be the last) article on this topic, but the location is absolutely fantastic and should be on your bucket list if you’re a Nintendo fan. Let’s get into it.
Getting There
Of course, getting to Japan and Kyoto are the main things that you’ll need to do, so if you’re planning a trip to Japan anytime soon, working out the logistics is a must. Before you do that, you may have to set up a reservation for the museum. From the opening of the museum up to the time when I visited in January 2026, this had to be done two months in advance on the Nintendo Museum website. Thankfully if you don’t speak Japanese, you can do this in English. Reservations aren’t guaranteed, so you may have to enter a lottery to try your luck. Around the middle of each month, tickets that could not be paid for by applicants go up for sale, so that’s another avenue to take for entry. Either way you do it, a bit of luck is involved early on, but it’s not impossible to go. Once you get a confirmation from Nintendo that you’ve been successful, you’re good to go.
Courtyard & Entrance Area
The museum is about 30 minutes from Kyoto Station at another station called Ogura station. Once you reach there, it’s a short walk and then you’re in. After presenting your digital ticket and going through security, you’re in. The courtyard has a couple of awesome photo spots, too, which was fun to see. The entrance has a lineup of Toads and a staff member standing by to snap a picture of you with them if you like. Once you finish up there, you can head into the museum itself. Before entering you’ll have to join a queue and listen to the rules. From there, you get let into the main exhibit area of the museum.
Play Ticket
Upon getting through security, you will be presented with a Play Ticket. This is needed to access the various activities and areas throughout the museum. You can choose your design before your visit. When I went, a special Super Mario Bros. 40th Anniversary ticket was available so I opted for that one. These also come pre-loaded with ten play coins that you will need to access the interactive activities which we’ll get to here in a bit.
Exhibits & Activities
The main exhibition hall is on the second floor of the museum and sports a ton of awesome goodies that Nintendo has crafted over the past century. Fans are not able to take photos or videos in this area, which I honestly think is a good thing. I probably would have spent more time taking photos and videos for this than actually soaking in the atmosphere and all of the cool items on display. While there are probably some other reasons behind it, seeing this stuff through your own eyes versus your smartphone screen is the way it should be.
Perhaps my only complaint with the game section of the museum has to do with the release dates. Of course, Nintendo has the Japanese release dates featuring the year, month and date, but the releases for North America and Europe don’t have these in many cases. I can understand this, especially for earlier releases on the NES, SNES and so on, however, there are some release dates that NOA acknowledge that could have been added. It’s not a huge deal, and there are definitely some cases where the dates themselves are quite nebulous. This will not detract from your enjoyment of the museum one bit. (Unless you’re me).
Several activities are available to try out once you get back on the first floor. Some of these, such as the activities with the big Famicom, Super Famicom, N64 and Wii controllers, require a second person. Since I was by myself, I didn’t get to try any of these out. I did, however, try out the Zapper & Scope SP and the Ultra Machine SP. The Zapper & Scope is basically a shooting range where 13 players take have three rounds to take out Bowser’s minions via a projection wall. You have your choice of either an NES Zapper or SNES Super Scope to do this. The action is fast, responsive, and enemies and allies alike both appear. Your goal here is to shoot as many as you can in an aim to be the top shooter in your group. I managed to get a total of 173 points across the three stages, but missed out on the top three. This cost four play coins to play.
The Ultra Machine SP is essentially a batting cage and will only set you back two play coins. There are small gated off areas decked out in 1970s-1980s Japanese room decor right in the middle of it all. Although you have a set number of ping pong balls being launched your way, the real fun is trying to nail the numerous items in the room, such as an old TV, printer and more. Hitting these gives you more chances to play. Being a baseball fan, this was awesome. Even if you’re not into sports, this is still pretty fun and worth trying out. With these activities, you will even be able to check your results after the fact on the Nintendo Museum website and, in some cases, even be able to grab some pictures that were taken. It’s awesome and just a great set-up overall. Although games may be the main focus of many of these, the inclusion of ones that harken back to Nintendo’s toy making past are a welcome addition. There are definitely more options if you go with a friend, but you can still have some fun on your own.
For a limited time, Nintendo is bringing the Super Mario Bros. 40th year celebration to Nintendo Museum. This includes a Mario 40th anniversary themed Play Ticket, a Mario and Luigi Byōbu Folding Screen, a display featuring the history of the series and special lighting outside (December 3, 2025 - April 27, 2026). One aspect of the history display allows fans to get a deeper look into the games via the Nintendo Today! app camera, “you can look back on game scenes and music, along with how old you were when each game was released.” I didn’t get to try this because I just carelessly overlooked it. Still, the lighting was absolutely awesome and just cool to see.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Nintendo location without some physical merchandise. The shop at the Nintendo Museum is full of exclusive items that you can’t find anywhere else. T-shirts, magnets, massive controller plushies - there are a lot of cool things that can be bought. I was in a bit of a hurry when I was going through the store, so I didn’t manage to snap any photos. I probably spent a good 40 minutes debating on what I would pick up. In the end, I ended up buying a Nintendo 64 shirt, Virtual Boy shirt, a tin with some cookies and some blind box magnets. Seriously, any Nintendo fan can easily drop hundreds of dollars if they’re not careful. It’s awesome and terrifying at the same time. Oh, I also picked up the Nintendo Museum Official Book which can be purchased in the second floor exhibit section. This went on sale from October 2, 2025 and is available in both English and Japanese. It’s also listed as “Vol. 01,” and features articles related to Mario’s anniversary. It’ll be interesting to see how many versions they end up producing over the coming years…
Hatena Burger
I could have checked this out, but it’s going to have to be another aspect of the museum that I check out during a future visit. Please understand!
Conclusion
The Nintendo Museum is a must for hardcore Nintendo fans. Although this time I went by myself, it definitely would be fun to go with a friend of family members. If you’re into the history of Nintendo’s gaming library or their endeavors before getting into the gaming scene, the main section of the museum is chock full of treasures that are just awesome to see. The activity area is also great and though there are limitations on what you can do with one visit, return trips are encouraged (though that might be a bit difficult if you don’t live here!). Despite a few nerdy nitpicks about a few aspects of the museum (regarding non-US release dates on game exhibits), I highly recommend the Nintendo Museum. Check it out if you can.
by Danny Bivens
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