A Treasure in Kyoto: Rediscovering Nintendo’s First Ad from 1894

Discovering a Rare Find—Twice!

A few weeks ago, on October 2nd, I was in Kyoto, Japan, to visit the newly opened Nintendo Museum (more on that experience will come in a future post).

The day before my museum visit, I had the privilege of being among the first to view a historic document recently uncovered by a fellow researcher: Nintendo’s earliest known advertisement, an astonishing 130 years old.

And a day after the museum visit, the discovery of a second copy of that document was truly remarkable.

The earliest known advertisement by Nintendo, 130 years old

I was visiting Japan with fellow Nintendo historians and enthusiasts Florent Gorges and Fabrice Heilig. The night before the museum opening, we stayed at a special location in Kyoto: Hotel Marufukuro.

This was Nintendo's first stone-built headquarters, now renovated and remodeled as a hotel. On the second floor is a room called the "Nintendo DNA Library," which houses books and artifacts that tell the story of Nintendo’s history. We are honored to have our books—one by Florent and one by me, with contributions from Fabrice—displayed in this library.

Earlier that day, Fabrice had picked up the old book that is the center of this post from a Kyoto-based antiquarian bookshop.

The shop owner had contacted Fabrice, who lives in France, a year earlier about this book in his collection but, in the end, wasn’t comfortable selling it over such a distance.

Now that Fabrice was in Kyoto for the museum opening, he seized the opportunity to acquire it in person.

As the proud new owner of this historic find, he shared it with us in the library. There could be no better place for this unveiling than Nintendo's former headquarters, located on the very site where the company was founded back in 1889. Florent recorded a video of this moment, which you can find at the bottom of this post.

While visiting the Nintendo Museum the next day, I spoke with Japanese playing card aficionado Marcus Richert, who knew of a Kyoto bookseller offering a second copy of this rare book.

Barely believing our luck, Florent and I set off the following day to investigate. Finding even one copy was a rare stroke of fortune—but discovering two seemed almost unbelievable.

Nintendo Museum's 2024 Ultra Hand Remake: honors and improves the original

The Nintendo Museum has brought back the iconic Ultra Hand from 1966! But how does this new version stack up against the original classic? Let’s dive in and find out!

The Ultra Hand within the Nintendo Museum collection

The Nintendo Ultra Hand is an important product in the history of the company. It brought Nintendo its first million-selling success as a toy maker in Japan, similar in impact at the time to how, in the early 1980s, the Game & Watch series became a sales hit on a global scale.

Back in 2011, when I started this blog, some of the earliest posts focused on the Ultra Hand and its inventor, Gunpei Yokoi.

A few years later, when releasing the Before Mario book—like the blog, also about Nintendo's 'toys and games' period before the release of the Family Computer in 1983—it was clear what should be on the front cover: the Ultra Hand.

Visiting the Nintendo Museum, October 2024

As you can image, when I visited the newly-opened Nintendo Museum a few weeks ago (a full report of which will follow later), I was curious to see how the Ultra Hand is covered there.

The second floor of the museum features a large exhibition of all of Nintendo's products, from its earliest days up to the present. I was glad that the Ultra Hand, along with many other vintage items, was on display here. Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed in this area, so I can't show it here, but it was great to see that all vintage products from before the video game era were given the attention and space they deserve.

On the first floor is a large display called 'A Succession of Ideas' (アイデアの継承). And luckily, on this floor pictures are allowed.

This display visually demonstrates how the ideas behind some of Nintendo's key products have endured and evolved over time.

The Ultra Hand, shown in the top left corner, is one of these 'primordial' ideas, alongside the Ultra Machine (bottom left), Game & Watch (top right), and Love Tester (bottom right).

All four products, I should add, came from the minds of Gunpei Yokoi and his R&D team.

As an aside, the museum contains all sorts of little Easter eggs. If you look carefully at this display, you’ll spot Pikmin gathering objects—specifically, balls from the Ultra Hand set.

Nintendo Poitan Game, a water toy lost in time (ポイタン ゲーム, 1966)

Most of the posts on this blog feature vintage Nintendo toys and games from my personal collection. When I acquire items, I photograph them and document them here.

Today, we are going to take a closer look at an item that I do not own. In fact, I do not know anyone who has one, including the recently opened Nintendo Museum.

We do believe that this toy exists, and the source for this belief comes from a couple of magazine advertisements from the mid-1960s.

The first magazine is called Weekly Shōnen Sunday (週刊少年サンデー), one of the many weekly or monthly "boys" ("Shōnen") magazines that started appearing in Japan in the 1960s. These magazines featured a mix of (serialized) manga, gags, and stories about adventure and sports.

The particular issue we are interested in is number 27 from 1966, published on Sunday, July 10th.

On the inside cover of this magazine is a full-size, full-color advertisement by Nintendo.

It presents a new release (新発売), called the Poitan Game (ポイタン ゲーム), which was offered for ¥500.

Nintendo toys in 1977 Kiddy Land catalogue

In today's post, we will take a look at a Japanese toy catalogue from the late 1970s and the Nintendo products included in it. You may be surprised by how many we will find!

The catalogue was published by Kiddy Land (キデイランド), a well-known Japanese toy store chain that has been around for decades, with its most famous location being the flagship store in Harajuku, Tokyo.

The Kiddy Land store in Harajuku (photo taken in 2006)

The catalogue was released in November 1977, just in time for the Christmas and New Year season, a time of increased gift-giving and toy purchasing. The front cover prominently displays the word "toys" in Japanese ("おもちゃ").

Readers of this blog will undoubtedly recognize the object of fascination for the pair of children depicted on the front: the Nintendo Color TV Game 15, one of Nintendo's earliest home consoles. It had just been released in June of 1977 and was one of the hot toys of the time.

The Project Odyssée team visits Before Mario

Some time ago, I received visitors from France who were interested in viewing the Before Mario collection and discussing the collecting and exhibiting of video games. They made a video diary about their trip, which also involved visits to other collectors and collections. This video was just published on YouTube.

The group included Benoit Theveny (known as "Tev" on YouTube channel Ici Japon and the side channel Ici Japon Corp.) and Ludovic Charles. This duo are the initiators of Project Odyssée, a crowd-funded video game museum planned to open near Paris, France in 2026.

Benoit and Ludovic were accompanied by some associates, including Florent Gorges, who is a good friend of mine and the publisher of my Before Mario book.

I am flanked here by Benoit (left) and Florent (right)

As part of the research for the upcoming museum, Benoit, Ludovic, and their team are meeting with collectors, visiting existing museums, and experiencing firsthand what types of exhibitions work and which don't. All of this is to gather the information and inspiration needed to create one of the best video game-related museums.

The team was temporarily distracted by birds living alongside Sander's houseboat

Before they arrived at my place, the caravan had already stopped by fellow Dutch collectors Don (of the website Consolevariations) and Sander (see his past episode of Meet the Collectors).

The team at work, filming Sander's collection

It was a lot of fun to show this group around my collection, as they were so interested in Nintendo's history and very knowledgeable as well.

Even though the space is not very large, it is packed to the brim, with much to see wherever you look.

Nintendo Patriotic Cards from 1942 and 1943 (Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu / 愛國百人一首)

Nintendo has produced games since its inception in 1889 up to the present day, and we are used to associating them with leisure products that provide entertainment, some education, but mostly innocent excitement and fun. These products are typically devoid of religion, politics, or any belief system, which has contributed to Nintendo's eventual global appeal, crossing borders and cultures.

In today's post, we will take a look at a notable exception to this 'neutral' position: two games that played a role in Japanese government propaganda during the Second World War (1939-1945).

The expansionist policies and military actions of Japan in Asia and the Pacific started in 1931 with the invasion of Manchuria, a region in northeastern China. This was followed by the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937), the Japanese occupation of French Indochina (1940), and the full outbreak of the Second World War in Asia and the Pacific in December 1941 after the surprise attack by the Japanese on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

By December 1942, when the first of these games was published, Japan was a year into a broad and bloody world war affecting millions of people across a large area in Asia and the Pacific. Together with its Axis alliance partners, Germany and Italy, Japan was fighting the Allied forces comprising the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, China, New Zealand, Canada, the Netherlands, India and others.

At this time, the general public back home in Japan was enduring significant hardships due to the ongoing war. The economy was under strain, resources were scarce, and daily life was marked by sacrifices and increased militarization. Although the realities of the war's demands and the early signs of Japan's strategic difficulties, including air raids over Japan, were beginning to affect the population's outlook and daily experienc, propaganda efforts maintained a degree of public morale and support.

In this context, Nintendo and other card manufacturers contributed to such propaganda efforts, either voluntarily or through governmental and societal pressure, by producing so-called Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu (愛國百人一首) games: "One Hundred Patriotic Poems by One Hundred Poets".

Two Nintendo Patriotic cards sets (left and middle) from 1942-'43
and a 1943 book (right) covering the 100 poems included in these games

The Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu game is similar to the well-known Japanese card game Ogura Hyakunin Isshu (小倉百人一首), often shortened to just Hyakunin Isshu, which translates to "One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets."

The difference between Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu and Ogura Hyakunin Isshu is the "patriotic" part.

The Ogura Hyukunin Isshu game is based on a 12th-century anthology of one hundred poems (by one hundred different poets), compiled by Fujiwara no Teika (藤原定家), covering a wide range of subjects and styles. This anthology was intended to be a masterclass in poetry in general.

On the other hand, the Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu consists of one hundred poems (again by one hundred poets) selected specifically to promote nationalism and patriotism in Japan; they were intended to foster a sense of national pride and loyalty to the emperor.

Nintendo Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu (愛國百人一首) card set from December 1942

Apparently, in 1942, the Japanese public was asked to submit candidates for the set of Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu poems, from which a committee of well-known literary scholars, including Nobutsuna Sasaki (佐佐木信綱), selected the final set of one hundred. These were sanctioned by the Japanese government, more specifically, the Information Bureau (情報局), which can be seen as a (war-time) Ministry of Information and Propaganda.

The poems deal with the following topics:

• Nationalism and Patriotism
• Loyalty to the Emperor
• Sacrifice and Duty
• Military Valor and Honor
• Unity and Collective Effort
• Resistance Against Western Influence
• Historical and Mythological References

It is important to note that these poems were not originally written with propaganda in mind, as they all predate the Japanese period of military expansionist ambition. It is the specific selection and combination of these poems, and the way they were positioned and used, that turned them into a tool for propaganda.

This list of one hundred poems was printed in Japanese newspapers, published in books, and used as the basis for the Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu card game produced (in different forms) by a number of different card manufacturers. Here we see the versions made by Nintendo.

Spot the difference: Ultra(s)cope box variants

Today's story is for people who appreciate the smallest details. People who see useful information where others see merely trifling trivia. It is also a story about paying close attention and discovering things hiding in plain sight.

For many years, I believed there were two versions of the Nintendo Ultra Scope from 1971.

One of them was actually called Ultra Cope, while the other one was called Ultra Scope.

The missing 'S' in that first version was most likely an error, although it was carried through (or started with) the name in Japanese: ウルトラコープ, which does read as Ultra Cope.

The Japanese name of the second version has an added "SU" (ス), and reads as ウルトラスコープ (which means, indeed, Ultra Scope).

The different names of the two versions can be seen on the front and sides of the box, as well as on the plastic housing itself.

When I first posted about this wonderful device back in 2011 (check that out here), somebody added a comment mentioning the existence of a third version. However, no visual proof was provided at the time, and I soon forgot about it.

I never came across this alleged third version - that is to say, I never noticed it. Until somebody pointed it out to me (thank you Bart).

Nintendo Love Peace "Smiley" e-clock (Love Peace 電気時計, circa 1971)

I have been collecting vintage Nintendo toys and games for around twenty-five years now, and although there are still plenty of items on my search list, they tend to be - obviously - the rarer ones. As a result, the finds occur with decreasing frequency.

Recently I was able to add two items to my collection that are both very rare and hard to find: the Nintendo Time Bomb (covered here) and the Nintendo Love Peace e-clock, which is the topic of today's post.

The Love Peace electric clock (「Love Peace 電気時計」) is one of the seven known variants of electric clocks released by Nintendo in 1971-1972. Of these seven different clocks, the four featuring the Tokusatsu heroes Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Mirror Man and Silver Kamen are the most common. The clock with the Disney figures is rarer, and the Panda clock can be considered very rare, with only a handful copies known in collector circles.

The Love Peace clock is the rarest of all these clocks. The one I was able to acquire was only the second one I had ever seen.

The box and clock itself are decorated with the well-known "Smiley" design. Created in the 1960s by Harvey Ball, this design soon exploded in popularity, and was recognized worldwide by the 1970s. It was produced by the millions in the form of stickers, buttons and used to adorn almost any object you can imagine.

My stay at Marufukuro, former Nintendo HQ

[Long post warning!]

Today marks the second anniversary of the opening of the Marufukuro hotel in Kyoto, on April 1st, 2022. It's a good moment to share my personal experience visiting this special place in Nintendo's history: the former headquarters of Nintendo, situated at the site where the company originated back in 1889.

Nintendo shop in Shōmen-dōri in Kyoto, early 20th century

In previous posts, I've shared the background of this building and it's neighborhood (check it out here), as well as some of its interior details.

Shōmen-dōri in 2023

Many years before the hotel's opening, when the building was no longer in active use and completely off-limits to outside visitors, I had already traveled to this location. At that time, I was content to view it from the outside, steal a small peek inside, and absorb the atmosphere of the neighborhood, which is the birthplace of Nintendo. The highlight of that trip was taking a picture with my recently released "Before Mario" book in front of the well-known old company signs.

My visit in 2015 (in front of a closed door)

At the time, I couldn't have imagined or even hoped for what would happen several years later: a full restoration of the building dating from 1933 and its conversion into a hotel, while preserving the original atmosphere and many original artifacts completely intact.

Hotel Marufukuro, Nintendo's former HQ, in 2023

As you can imagine, ever since the announcement of the hotel's opening, I've been eager to visit. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting closure of Japan to foreign visitors, I had to wait until an opportunity arose last November.

The buildings extends deep from the street

I traveled to Japan together with my youngest daughter, and during this trip, we planned to stay one night at Marufukuro.

As we walked into the building, it immediately became clear that it was even more beautiful than I had imagined through the many pictures I had already seen. My eyes darted between all the interesting details and beautiful items.

I caught a Nintendo Time Bomb from the 1960s

In a previous blog post I discussed a very rare Nintendo item from the 1960s called the Time Bomb (タイムボーン). For decades, this Nintendo-branded licensed toy had remained out of sight, even to the most dedicated Nintendo collectors and historians. That is, until one appeared for auction on Yahoo Auctions Japan in 2021. An unknown lucky winner took it home for ¥256,555.

As you can imagine, ever since that moment, I have been on the lookout for another Time Bomb. And last November, two and a half years after that first discovery, I managed to acquire one offered by an American seller through eBay. Fortunately, this one was a bit cheaper.

So, without further ado, here's the second known Nintendo Time Bomb, now part of the beforemario collection.

The box is a bit rough and squashed, with some rips. But all flaps are present and the colors of the artwork are still vibrant.

Nintendo 1950s Takarazuka cards with box

A couple of years ago, I reported about a set of vintage Nintendo playing cards from the 1950s, that had attracted my special interest. They were for the Takarazuka Revue, a Japanese theater company, and represented some of the earliest (possibly the earliest) Nintendo trump (トランプ) decks with a marketing purpose.

It is a beautiful set of cards, with full color pictures. That previous post can be found here.

Unfortunately, the deck that I had found at the time was missing the box. But that has since been corrected. Recently a version with box came into my possession, and you can see it here.

The box turned out to be just as nice as the cards themselves. It features branding for both Nintendo and the Takarazuka company.

First Nintendo product sold in Europe (probably)

In today's post, we'll delve into the first advertisement for a Nintendo product in Europe. At least, the earliest one discovered thus far.

Displayed here is an almanac from Italy for the year 1973.

This almanac, known as Barba-Nera, is a local institution and a synonymous term for almanac in Italy. Remarkably, Barba-Nera still continues its annual publication today, over 250 years since its inception in 1762.

At its essence, the almanac provides information on sunrise and sunset times throughout the year, religious calendars, weather forecasts, and horoscopes.

This is complemented by agricultural insights and diverse topics such as cooking.

A large part of the book is dedicated to advertisements aimed at the Italian agricultural community. So you will find adds for Lamborghini tractors, rather than racing cars.

The 1973 edition spans around 350 pages and includes a sweepstake for 1500 prizes. While the majority of these prizes consist of key chains, there are more substantial items up for grabs.