Gamers will be delighted to find that they’ll be able to stay in the
birthplace of one of the largest video game companies in the world once
Japan reopens. The building which served as Nintendo’s first and
original headquarters from the 1930s was recently refurbished into a
boutique hotel.
Founder Fusajiro Yamauchi began his career making and selling
Japanese cards in 1889. When his business picked up in 1933, he moved
into the building and established Marufuku Co., Ltd. which would
eventually become Nintendo Co., Ltd. Even though Nintendo moved out of
the building in 1959, the hotel still holds much of the company’s
history.
The former Nintendo headquarters and current Hotel Marufukuro sits in a quiet location between two rivers, north of Kyoto Station. Photo Credit: Hotel Marufukuro
Hotel Marufukuro, named after Yamauchi’s initial playing card
business, features the original nameplate from its time as Marufuku Co.,
Ltd. affixed at the top of the building and a plaque on its building
façade that reads “Nintendo Yamauchi”, along with a list of all the
cards the company produced during that period.
The hotel houses 18 standard rooms and seven suites, with each room’s
interior and design elements differing from one to another. There are
rooms furnished in traditional Japanese tatami and equipped with an
outdoor bath, and a room designed by celebrity architect Tadao Ando that
contains a small pantry area and a laundry machine. For a luxurious
stay, look no further than the Marufukuro Suite, the only room in the
hotel that extends over both the original and new annex designed by
Tadao Ando. Rooms start from ¥108,000 (US$880) a night.
The hotel’s traditional Japanese rooms feature an outdoor bath. Photo Credit: Hotel Marufukuro
Breakfast, tea-time, dinner, and supper are included daily, inclusive
of alcoholic beverages. Breakfast and dinner will be served at Carta,
helmed by chef Ai Hosokawa who is famous for her Japanese-Italian fusion
dishes.
Guests can experience a blast from the past with a visit to the
Library dNa — a unique space filled with the company’s original products
and memorabilia, that also doubles up as a bar that offers a selection
of Japanese and international whiskies.