I remember seeing a vid about ten years ago of a guy who trespassed into the disused hanafuda card factory near Nintendo headquarters -- perhaps a precursor to

I remember seeing a vid about ten years ago of a guy who trespassed into the disused hanafuda card factory near Nintendo headquarters -- perhaps a precursor to the recent trend of rude Westerners gaijin-smashing their way onto Japanese construction sites, leading to arrests and even a backlash against Western tourism. Anyway, a lady inside the factory came and told the YouTuber to leave, but when asked cheerfully explained what the factory was used for, what hanafuda was, etc. As if, as a Nintendo employee, she was deeply proud of the company's history. There's something fundamentally Japanese about that. It's interesting to see Nintendo turn this location into a retro gaming museum. I told a Japanese friend of mine that I wished I'd gone to Kyoto and taken pictures of Nintendo HQ and the hanafuda card factory (just the outside!). She was surprised to hear there was a Nintendo hanafuda card factory, and as it turns out, completely unaware of Nintendo's history dating back to the Meiji era. She kind of fits the profile of a "typical Japanese person" who is nowhere near into nerdy stuff like I'm into, so maybe it's not so surprising. For this reason I think it'd be nice if the new Nintendo museum kept some of the card manufacturing equipment in like a display, so that more Japanese and international people can discover the long, rich history of one of the most preeminent Japanese companies. Edit: It looks like they are going to have displays of former Nintendo products including playing cards. Neat.