Nintendo Museum Book Vol. 2 Out Now: 60-Page Zelda Artbook, Master Sword Photo Spot, and 1,980 Yen Price in Kyoto
Kyoto's official shrine to video game history is marking four decades of its flagship adventure franchise with a new print collectible that visitors are already lining up to secure. Launching today, Thursday, November 5, 2026, at the Uji facility, the Nintendo Museum Official Book Vol. 02 follows up on the October 2025 debut volume (which spotlighted the 40th anniversary of Super Mario Bros.) by dedicating its centerpiece special feature to the 40th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda. Alongside the book's release, the venue has also opened its new limited-time Master Sword Photo Spot.
60 Full-Color Pages, an Ocarina of Time Creator Roundtable, and a Ticket Pocket
Expanding upon the first volume's 48-page layout (which retailed for 1,650 yen), this second installment arrives as an A4-sized, 60-page full-color guidebook priced at 1,980 yen tax included (roughly $13 USD). Just like its predecessor, the publication is available on day one in two separate editions: a Japanese release and a fully localized English version, each equipped with a built-in inner ticket pocket designed to hold and preserve the visitor's personalized Nintendo Museum Play Ticket.
According to the official sample spreads published on the Nintendo Museum Official Book page, Volume 02 is structured around three major historical and archival pillars:
- 1986 Origins on the Family Computer Disk System: a detailed retrospective on the original The Legend of Zelda released on February 21, 1986, breaking down the rewritable magnetic Disk Cards, the retail Disk Writer kiosks used by Japanese players to copy new adventures, and original character profiles for Link, Zelda, and Impa.
- A Three-Generation Developer Roundtable With Shigeru Miyamoto, Eiji Aonuma, and Hidemaro Fujibayashi: an extensive conversation revisiting the creation of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and the series' core design philosophy. The trio discusses galloping across a 3D world on horseback, solving puzzles with three ocarina notes, real-time cutscene flexibility for last-minute changes, and the famous programming rule dictating that if a wooden sign is sliced with a sword, the cut pieces must float on water. That deep dive arrives right as players dive into the Ocarina of Time Update 1.1.1 patch and Zelda Notes integration on Switch 2.
- The Legend of Zelda Art Gallery (1986 to Majora's Mask): a curated showcase of pencil concept sketches, character turnaround sheets, painted overworld maps of Hyrule, and key promotional illustrations spanning from the 8-bit debut through the Nintendo 64 era.
Strict One-Copy Limit Per Visitor and Zero Sales Outside Uji
While the 1,980 yen retail price makes the book an affordable souvenir on the museum floor, tracking down a copy from abroad remains a major hurdle for collectors. Nintendo explicitly states that the Nintendo Museum Official Book Vol. 02 is sold exclusively at the Art Gallery on the 2nd floor of Exhibition Building 1 inside the Uji campus. It is not sold on the online My Nintendo Store, nor is it stocked at flagship retail locations such as Nintendo Tokyo, Nintendo Osaka, Nintendo Kyoto, or Nintendo New York.
To curb the aggressive scalping that targeted Volume 01 last year, the museum enforces strict purchase rules at the register:
- Strict One-Copy Limit: each ticketed guest may purchase only one copy of Vol. 02, choosing either the Japanese edition or the English edition (visitors are, however, permitted to buy one copy of Vol. 01 alongside one copy of Vol. 02 during the same visit).
- Cashless Payments Only: the Art Gallery counter does not accept physical yen banknotes or coins; transactions must be completed via credit card, transit IC cards (such as Suica, Pasmo, or Icoca), or supported electronic money.
- Lottery-Gated Admission: reaching the 2nd-floor counter requires winning a named entry ticket through Nintendo's advance drawing system (with February 2027 ticket lottery entries currently open through November 30, 2026, at 23:59 JST).
Check Availability for Official The Legend of Zelda Art Books on Amazon→
Master Sword Photo Spot, Nintendo Today! History Board, and Collector Play Tickets
The launch of Volume 02 coincides with the next phase of The Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary celebrations at the Nintendo Museum, headlined today by the debut of the Master Sword Photo Spot. Set inside a dim stone temple alcove beneath a green-and-gold 40th Anniversary banner bearing the Hylian Crest and an 8-bit Link sprite, the installation lets visitors pose in front of a life-sized replica of the Blade of Evil's Bane resting in its white Triforce pedestal.
Visitors exploring Exhibition Building 1 can also experience two ongoing anniversary additions: the limited-time 40th Anniversary History Board in the 1st-floor hallway just outside the main exhibit area,which uses the camera inside the Nintendo Today! mobile app to play classic game footage and music while calculating how old you were when each installment launched,and the special Zelda 40th Anniversary Play Ticket design offered as the default admission pass through late 2027.
My Perspective
Putting Shigeru Miyamoto, Eiji Aonuma, and Hidemaro Fujibayashi at the same table to reflect on Ocarina of Time inside an official 60-page book,complete with a full English translation on day one for roughly thirteen dollars,is the kind of archival work every longtime fan wants on their shelf. That makes Nintendo's decision to lock Volume 02 behind a lottery-gated counter in Uji all the more frustrating for international players: because the English localization is already typeset and printed, keeping it strictly off the global My Nintendo Store practically guarantees that secondary market resellers will mark copies up fivefold within hours. Here is hoping Nintendo eventually bundles these museum volumes into a wider retail anthology so preservation-minded fans do not have to pay scalper prices just to read a developer roundtable.
Based on the outskirts of New York City, Chaya 'Chayane' spent five years studying software engineering in Montreal before returning to her home state. A Full-Stack developer and Deep Learning AI architecture researcher, she explores neural networks and algorithmic optimization while engineering data pipelines for Retrocharting and Gamescharting alongside Grimtag. A gamer for over 20 years and an avid collector of Nintendo history and The Legend of Zelda, she explored World of Warcraft's Azeroth before bringing her deep technical background to video game analysis.
