If you have a Nintendo fan in your family, there’s a new must-visit attraction in Japan: the Nintendo Museum. We visited on our latest trip to Japan and, honestly, it was one of our children’s favourite experiences of the entire holiday, which is why I’m sharing this Nintendo Museum Kyoto review. We didn’t know what to expect, but this museum was so much better than we ever imagined.

Part museum, part interactive attraction and part nostalgic trip through gaming history, the Nintendo Museum is a dream day out for fans of Mario, Zelda, Pokémon, Animal Crossing and more. It’s multi-generational fun, with Mike and I enjoying pointing out our first consoles and favourite childhood games to the kids.

But is it worth visiting? What’s actually inside? And how difficult is it to get tickets? Here’s our honest Nintendo Museum Kyoto review:

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Quick Answer: Is The Nintendo Museum Worth It?

The Nintendo Museum Kyoto is truly fantastic: Like a conventional museum, you will learn a lot about Nintendo, but with so many gaming elements that elevate it beyond a simple museum. If you love Nintendo, this is a must-do.

Our boys (10 and 13) loved it, and we spent hours inside. Their gamer-mad teens and tweens, so this probably isn’t a suprise. But what might surprise you is that so did we! Mike and I loved it too.

It’s immersive, interactive, beautifully designed and full of nostalgia, whether you grew up with Nintendo or your kids are discovering it now.

Our verdict: One of the best family attractions in Japan for Nintendo fans. One not to miss!

Where is the Nintendo Museum?

The Nintendo Museum is in Uji, just outside Kyoto. The full address for your sat nav is: 56 Kaguraden, Ogura-cho, Uji-shi, Kyoto 611-0042

If you’re travelling by public transport, the Nintendo Museum Kyoto is less than a 5 minute walk from Ogura Station (Kintetsu Railway Kyoto Line). Exit via the East exit to be closest to the museum.

The Nintendo Museum’s spot close to Kyoto makes it easy to combine with:

• A Kyoto stay full of cultural attractions and visits
• A day trip from Osaka
• …or even part of a wider Kansai trip

We took a traditional sweet making class in the morning, then explored the museum in the afternoon. It’s also worth noting that Kyoto is very close to Universal Studios Japan, home of Super Nintendo World. If your children are Nintendo obsessed (like ours), you can absolutely build an amazing Nintendo-themed trip around both. We did, and it was brilliant!

What’s Inside The Nintendo Museum?

This is not just a traditional museum with display cabinets. If you’re expecting a simple, factual museum then you’re in for a big suprise! You will find an abundance of display cabinets packed with retro consoles and games, and this was actually my favourite part of the whole experience. But there’s also lots of other things to see and do.

Highlights include:

Interactive Gaming Experiences

This was our boys’ favourite part of the whole visit. When you book your Nintendo Museum tickets, you will be allocated 10 digital tokens, these are added to your ticket, which works like a payment card. You can’t buy any more tokens: 10 per person is the limit.

You can use these digital tokens to try different hands-on games and activities inspired by Nintendo’s history and characters. Some games ‘cost’ 1 token to play, while others are 2-3 tokens. These are genuinely fun games, and not just for children. We gave the boys half of the tokens on our cards so they could play on absolutely everything, but there were a couple of games we weren’t going to miss playing ourselves for anything!

The full list of games are:

• Shooting Game (By far the best game in the museum!): 4 coins per play.
• Big Controller Games: 2 coins per play
• Ultra Machine SP (Batting cage game): 2 coins per play.
• Love Tester SP: 2 coins per person.
• Ultra Hand SP: 2 coins per play
• Retro Console Demos (NES, SNES, N64): 1 coin per play

Nintendo History Exhibits

The Nintendo History exhibit is the first exhibit you’ll experience as you enter the museum, but there are strictly no photos allowed in this area. You’ll see:

• Original consoles
• Handheld devices
• Classic games
• Company history
• Rare memorabilia
• Original artwork

If you grew up with Nintendo, this section is wonderfully nostalgic. It was funny because you could age every person in the room by which case they were standing at, getting animated about exploring!

Character and Franchise Displays

You’ll find your favourite Nintendo characters at every turn, and outside of the main museum area (no photos allowed) there are spots photo spots, especially at the entrance to the museum, and in the garden which has been wonderfully Mario themed and lights up at night.

Expect plenty of:

• Mario
• Zelda
• Pokémon
• Donkey Kong
• Animal Crossing
• Splatoon

It’s beautifully curated, and worth slowing down to take some photos, even if there is often a small queue.

Exclusive Merchandise

You don’t have to exit via the gift shop, but you’re going to want to.. and the gift shop is dangerous. There’s lots of exclusive Nintendo Museum merchandise you can’t easily buy elsewhere.

We walked around wanting to buy almost everything we saw. Budget accordingly.

Is the Nintendo Museum good for kids?

If your kids play Nintendo games or have an interest in Nintendo then they’re going to love the Nintendo Museum Kyoto. Our boys are aged 10 and 13 (and big Nintendo fans) so they absolutely loved it.

Why it worked:
 It’s interactive
 There’s plenty to look at
 It’s not a full day experience
 There are lots of photo opportunities
 It has an exciting gift shop
The on-site restaurant is a build-your-own burger bar

I’d say it works best for:

• Children 6+. Anyone younger won’t appreciate the museum and may struggle to operate the games.
• Teens. Even the crankiest teens will smile in this place!
• Nostalgic adults

How long do you need at the Nintendo Museum?

We’d allow 2–3 hours. We were given our 3rd preference time slot, entering the museum at 4pm. We spent around 2.5 hours in the museum itself, then longer in the restaurant afterwards.

If you allow 3 hours for your visit that gives you enough time to explore the museum properly, queue for the interactive games (queue times can affect how long you’ll spend), browse the shop, and not feel rushed doing it.

You could spend even longer in the Museum if you’re a big fan, or if you’re happy to queue for the most popular games.

How hard is it to get Nintendo Museum tickets?

This is the tricky bit. The Nintendo Museum Kyoto is one of the most sought-after tickets in Japan, and unlike other in-demand attractions (the Pokemon Cafe for example) you can’t bypass the queue and buy tickets on a resale site.

Getting the tickets was the hardest part of planning this visit. Demand is high, and availability can be limited so you’ll need to enter a ‘ticket lottery’ for the chance of getting a ticket. Here’s a step-by-step:

• Entries to the ticket Lottery open 3 months in advance. The lottery opens at the beginning of the month, and you’ll find out if you were successful at the end of the month.
• You can select up to 3 preferred dates and times when you make your application. We opted for ‘odd times’ and weekday slots to try and improve our chances of being selected.
• If you’re successful in getting a slot, you’re given a limited time to pay for and secure your ticket, so do that right away.
• The link to enter the ticket lottery is here.

My advice: Prioritise this early in your Japan planning. If you try to leave this to the last minute then it’s much less likely that you’ll get tickets.

Our tips for getting Nintendo Museum tickets

We were successful in getting our Nintendo Museum tickets, and I did a lot of research to increase our chances before we applied. My tried-and-tested tips are:

• Choose the least popular slots. Statistically, the less other people that want the same slot as you, the more chance there is that your number will be drawn! Weekdays, and the later slots in the day are the least popular.
• Double your chances. Mike and I both have Nintendo Accounts, so we both entered the lottery for tickets. This gave us 6 entries instead of just 3 entries.
• Enter the lottery as soon as slots for your month open.

I’m not going to lie, getting those tickets took a lot of work. But it was worth the effort.

Should You Combine the Nintendo Museum with Super Nintendo World?

Because my boys are such Super Nintendo fans, we created a ‘double feature’ where we visited the Super Nintendo Museum and Super Nintendo World in Universal Studios Japan in the same week.

The Nintendo Museum celebrates Nintendo’s past and history. Super Nintendo World is the immersive theme park version that’s all modern. Together, they make an incredible combination. If your family loves Nintendo, I’d strongly recommend doing both.

I’ll cover exactly how to do that in my upcoming Nintendo Fan’s Guide to Japan.

Our Honest Verdict: Is The Nintendo Museum Kyoto Worth It?

For us, the Nintendo Museum Kyoto was completely orth it. And although tickets ae hard to secure, they aren’t expensive. Making it a good option for budget travellers to.

It was:

• One of our children’s favourite attractions in Japan
• Genuinely fun for adults too
• Beautifully designed
• Unique and completely unforgettable

If your family loves Nintendo, don’t miss it.

Planning a Nintendo-Themed Trip to Japan?

There are so many great Nintendo-themed attractions to explore in Japan, as well as other attractions for computer games and anime fan. Check out some of our other articles to help you keep planning your trip:

👉 Things To Do in Akihabara With Kids (And Pokemon Fans!)
👉 Pokemon Tokyo Experiences And Attractions (2026 Guide For Pokemon Fans!)
👉Is Universal Studios Japan Worth Visiting in 2026? Our Honest Family Review

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Heads up! This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you click and make a purchase, I might earn a very small commission – at no extra cost to you. This helps to keep the blog going. Thanks for the support!