Screenshot 2022 05 13 At 11.10.50
Image: 株式会社 Plan・Do・See マーケティング室

Nintendo's founding Yamauchi Family still seemingly has a great deal of fondness for the video game company. In a significant move, it has acquired around 3000 square metres of land in Kyoto, specifically surrounding Nintendo's original headquarters in the city's Shimogyo Ward. The headquarters itself has already been transformed into the Marufukuro hotel; you can take a look at some images of the hotel itself in our previous article.

The Yamauchi Family is looking to redevelop the acquired land around the hotel, with plans said to include restaurants, art galleries, and more. It's not known at this time whether the redevelopment will include nods to Nintendo itself, but it's likely the family will need express permission from the company to do so.

Banjo Yamauchi, grandson of ex-Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi, said that "we want to contribute to [the area's] revitalization, in dialogue with local residents". Possible plans for the redevelopment include areas next to the Marufukuro hotel for guests to mingle, a Salon for artists and entrepreneurs to gather and relax, and an area next to the Umeyu sauna for customers to utilise.

The project is aiming to kick off in the year 2025 and may last well into the year 2050. Banjo Yamauchi has likened the gradual development to the unfinished 'Sagrada Familia' basilica in Barcelona, stating "like Spain's Sagrada Familia, we want to move toward completion little by little, in accordance with people's needs".

It's sounding promising, at least, and we respect the intention to restore the area around one of Nintendo's key historical locations.

What do you make of the Yamauchi Family's development plans for the Kyoto area? Are you planning on visiting at some point? Let us know in the comments!

[source asia.nikkei.com]