Marufukuro (丸福樓)

Nintendo began in 1889, when Fusajirō Yamauchi opened a small shop in Kyoto where he made and sold hanafuda playing cards. From its founding the company used the shop name Marufuku (丸福) on this site, and the hotel takes its name from it. The former head office, completed in 1930, has three blocks: an office block, a residential block and a warehouse. It remained in use until 1959.

The Marufukuro hotel opened on 1 April 2022. Plan・Do・See produced it; Tadao Ando added a new building, whose design he supervised.

The old building, a four-storey reinforced-concrete structure, dates from 1930 and follows the Art Deco style that spread in Japan in the early Shōwa era, with straight lines, geometric motifs and bright colours. The new building is in exposed concrete, in the architect's manner; it stands where the garden used to be.

In memory of the playing cards the company once made, four blocks are named after a suit: the former residential block is the Hearts block, the former warehouse the Clubs block, and the new building holds the Spades and Diamonds blocks.

The place is an all-inclusive hotel, with a lounge, a library and, in a corner of the former head office, a tempura restaurant; works by a number of artists adorn the interior.

The hotel admits its guests only. The tempura restaurant also takes diners who are not staying, on a reservation made by 17:00 the day before at the latest.