by Nick - 03.29.05
[Now Watching| The Girlfriend Play Animal Crossing]
Nintendo is once again expanding its reach. This time, Yamauchi has forked over almost 8 million dollars to build a new poetry museum in Kyoto, Japan. Apparently, the museum was primarily designed by Nintendo employees.
The museum will be named ‘Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, which loosely translates as One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets (the title of a classic poetry anthology of one hundred Japanese poems from poets who lived during the seventh to thirteenth centuries.)’
Im glad to see a nice cultural contribution like this come from Nintendo. Read the full text below or head over to Gamepspot (*cough*) for the full article:
Nintendo-backed poetry museum’s got game roots
Nintendo engineers lend a hand in the construction of ex-pres Yamauchi-funded museum.
TOKYO–Over a year ago, GameSpot reported that former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi and the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu Project Foundation were building a museum dedicated to classic Japanese poetry. The museum was to be known as the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, which loosely translates as One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets (the title of a classic poetry anthology of one hundred Japanese poems from poets who lived during the seventh to thirteenth centuries).
Today, Nintendo announced the museum is hoping to open its doors this October. With Nintendo designers forming the bulk of the design team, it was also announced that visitors can expect some high-tech surprises when they visit the site.
According to Kyoto’s daily newspaper, Kyoto Shinbun, the exhibition hall in the museum’s first floor will be “paved” with 70 45-inch monitors, taking up about 30 square feet of floor space.
The monitors will be used to reproduce scenes of Kyoto from back in the Heian-kyo period to present day. The images will be displayed using computer-generated visuals. The hope is that visitors will feel as if they are literally walking through history.
The Ogura Hyakunin Isshu museum will also use handheld devices which will receive radio signals and display details–such as historical locations associated with the poets–of the exhibits on its screen. Not surprisingly, the museum will feature game machines where visitors can play quiz and card games against computer-generated images of the poets. “We hope to create a world of Hyakunin Isshu that no one has ever experienced,” a Nintendo senior manager told the newspaper.
The museum’s construction cost, $7.4 million, has been donated by Yamauchi, who also acts as the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu Project Foundation president. The foundation is dedicated to promoting the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu text.
By Hirohiko Niizumi — GameSpot
POSTED: 03/29/05 03:14 PM PST
Yamauchi is so incredibly obsessed with Ogura Hyakunin Isshu; and I hope he’s not just wasting Nintendo’s time with this… Or distracting them from greater things. First he wants to make a motion picture about it, now an entire freaking museum. That crazy old Yamauchi! What will he do next!? … … … … God, we hope you know what you’re doing.
James Montagna - 03.30.05 12:26 pm
Well, it doesnt really matter, as he isnt in control of Nintendo anymore. Sure, he has influence, but he has said that from now on he is leaving it up to Iwata. So, the crazy old genius can do whatever he wants with his money.
Im still dying to hear more about the animation studio Nintendo is setting up.
Nick Luckett - 03.30.05 12:28 pm