I stayed at Marufukuro, the former Nintendo HQ in Kyoto

I stayed at Marufukuro, the former Nintendo HQ in Kyoto

Did you know that you can stay at the original Nintendo headquarters in Kyoto? When I visited Japan for the very first time, one of the spots I wanted to visit was this old and seemingly empty building in Kyoto. The reason why is because back in the 1930s, this was the original headquarters of Nintendo. Sadly, our time in Kyoto was busier than expected, so we decided to skip it. Little did I know that a few years later, it would be turned into a beautiful five-star hotel. On one of my most recent trips to Kyoto, I contacted the hotel and they graciously offered to have us stay the night. As the hotel isn’t owned by Nintendo, there is no fleshy branding. It’s more like an homage to the Yamuchi family, their influence and history. But this is really where it all started. So, in this video, I’m very excited to show you what it was like staying overnight in Nintendo’s original headquarters. Nintendo was founded in 1889 by Fussjiro Yamoi. Long before it turned into the video game company we all know and love today, Nintendo started out manufacturing Japanese style Hanafuda playing cards. The original headquarters was built in the 1930s and was used by Nintendo until the company outgrew it a couple of decades later. Nintendo then moved to the outskirts of Kyoto where it still operates today. After the move, this building stood empty for decades. The Yamahuchi family looked after it and the relics inside until they decided they wanted to turn it into a hotel. Renovations began a few years ago with the help of PDS hotels. The former headquarters consisted of four buildings. The first one was the administration office. The second building housed the bathrooms and kitchen. The third was where the Yamamauchi family lived. And the last building was used as a warehouse to store the Hanafuta carts. During renovations, the second building had to be demolished and rebuilt as it was in quite a bad state. The other three were preserved as much as possible in order to keep their original charm. The Finnish hotel opened on April 1st, 2022. Located near the Camo River in a quiet neighborhood in Kyoto, Marafugo is only a short 5-minute walk from the nearest bus stop or a 6-minute taxi ride from Kyoto station. The hotel reception is modeled exactly to what the former office building used to look like. The staff told us about an old video from 2007 where someone secretly entered a building and recorded some footage and it looks almost identical. After checking in, our bags were taken up to our room and we were given a full tour of the four buildings. In the reception, they displayed some of the original signs that used to hang outside. There’s also a Lego replica of the hotel and some unique pieces of art made from the old office keys. Walking through the former family residence, a member of staff told us that many parts of the hotel are decorated in emerald green. This is because it was the favorite color of the wife of Nintendo’s second CEO. The nostalgic interior of each building maintains Nintendo’s heritage beautifully. For example, the original elevator still stands in the warehouse. Even though it’s no longer operational, it helps to showcase some of their old packaging boxes and crates. Displays of Nintendo’s artifacts like this can be found throughout the whole hotel. Some of the relics that used to be here are now on display in the Nintendo Museum just south of Kyoto. The last stop on our tour was the DNA library where the Yamuchi family put many Nintendo relics, art, and books that represent the company on display. You can only come to enjoy it as a hotel guest. Unfortunately, but understandably, it’s not open to outside visitors. Since the hotel only has 18 rooms, it’s never really busy here. During our stay, we visited the library a couple of times, and we only really saw one other person there. So, really, the heart of the Marafuker Hotel is this beautiful library, and it’s all dedicated to the history of Nintendo and the Yamuchi family. There’s actually separate sections in the library dedicated to different parts that represent the company. There’s a part on my side here that’s all about Kyodo. There’s a part over there that’s all about the history of Nintendo. There’s a section about science. And then there’s a huge section about making and creating video games. I feel like they captured the essence of the company really well in a really respectful way. There’s so many cool artifacts and little uh things to look at. Like there is this old Game Boy, there’s a GameCube, there is loads of cool books about video games and video game design. There’s some books about Mario, there’s some books about special typography. And this whole library is also in that 1930s style, which you can see throughout the whole hotel. It’s really cool to see that they stuck to what the original company and original office building looked like. There’s also some special art that was created especially for this library. for example, this Famcom that was created entirely out of paper, which I think is so cool. So, next to the library, there is a bar where you can get some refreshments, including the Nintendo Founders favorite gin and whiskey. Because the entire hotel is an all-inclusive hotel, all the drinks from the bar are also included in your room rate, which is really cool. So, you can get a nice glass of whiskey and come and enjoy the library. Instead of a plastic card, you get a physical key inspired by the ones from the original office. The heavy key ring is a replica of the original company plaques found outside of the hotel. You can even buy one to take it home as a souvenir, which of course we did. During our visit, we got to stay in the residential suite located in the new building. The room covers nearly 75 m and is lined with floor to-seeiling windows in the living space. Similar to the other rooms in the building, it was designed by renowned Japanese architect Tadaw Ando. It was very impressive seeing his handdrawn signature marking the room. The interior matched the art deco style of the rest of the hotel, complnting Ando’s simplistic and modern architectural style. The clean concrete walls and warm wooden features really stand out and make this room feel complete. As Maraf Fukuro is an all-inclusive hotel, everything in the kitchen is included in the room rates. We had a fully stocked mini bar with drinks, snacks, and their own Marafukuro blend coffee. There’s also a washing machine and washing powder, which is very handy when traveling through Japan for a few weeks. The suite also had a beautiful bath and shower room with a double lid vanity and all the amenities you could need. Large sliding wooden doors separate the bedroom from the living area, and the bed was so big that it felt like two big double mattresses put together. This suite is pure luxury, and I feel that one night may not have been quite enough to appreciate everything fully. But after spending a bit of time relaxing in our room, we headed down just in time for our dinner reservation. The Marafukura Hotel has packages that include either dinner and breakfast or just breakfast. Although they have a guest lounge for coffee, tea, and light snacks, meals are served at the on-site Carta restaurant. Carta has 23 seats for guests, including two tables and high chairs wrapped around the bar. Led by chef Ai Hosukawa, the restaurant offers set seasonal menus made up of new western cuisine. As the menus change seasonally, you may not get the same dishes we had during our stay. However, we had a six course fine dining experience, including carpet show, clam chowder, and hamburger steak. After dinner, we had another little walk around the buildings before we headed back to our suite. It was very nice to take our time searching for even more details and pieces of Nintendo’s history around the hotel. Arriving at Carta again for breakfast, we were given two options. I decided to go with the Japanese breakfast while my husband opted for a western so we could compare the two. It was a multi-course breakfast and I really love the variety of dishes we had between us. It was clear from the moment we entered Marafukuro that it’s so much more than a hotel. It feels like an art exhibition and museum that you’re allowed to stay in. If you’re a fan of Nintendo and are interested in its history, you really feel like you’ve connected deeper to its roots by spending some time here. I’d like to thank Mayor Fukuro again for having us, showing us around, and chatting with us about all things Nintendo. If you’d like to learn more about the hotel and details of our stay, you can read my full review on our website, the navigo.com. Thanks for watching and don’t forget to check out our other videos to help you plan your next trip to Japan.

Our full review of staying in the former Nintendo Headquarters in Kyoto, the Marufukuro Hotel (AD / Press Invite)

A special thanks to Erik Voskuil from Before Mario for allowing us to use some of his photos and information about Nintendo’s history. Please check out his blog here: http://blog.beforemario.com

🎮 Read our full review here: https://thenavigatio.com/marufukuro-nintendo-hotel-kyoto/

🏨 Other recommended hotels in Kyoto: https://thenavigatio.com/where-to-stay-in-kyoto/

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📍 Chapters in this video:

00:00 – Intro
00:54 – History of Nintendo and Marufukuro
02:22 – Marufukuro tour
03:15 – The DNA Library
05:18 – Residential Suite tour
06:37 – Dinner & breakfast
08:20 – Outro

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