Random: Japanese Museum Wants To Reunite People With Their Lost Game Cartridges

Here’s some balm for your soul on this Thursday morning: there’s a museum in Japan that aims to reunite people with the Famicom games that they once owned (via Kotaku).

Did you ever scribble your name down on an old game cartridge or box, only to sell it later on? You might just find it at the Named Cassette Museum in Tokyo (Famicom cartridges are known as cassettes in Japan). Opened in 2015 and run by Junji Seki, the museum displays all sorts of Famicom games where owners have scrawled their names on the cartridges all with the aim of one day, hopefully, returning to their owners. What a lovely little idea.

The museum currently has 920 cassettes and cartridges ranging from Famicom, N64, Game Boy, and every retro Nintendo console inbetween. There are even some NES cartridges from across the pond.

The idea of writing on a cartridge might make us retro collectors wince a little bit, but Seki sees the sentimental value in using the pen on the cartridge. Some of the things he’s picked up over the years include prices and photos, and these little additions can add more of a story to the game, such as when it was sold or bought (via a mirai-idea.jp interview).

If you happen to spot your game in the museum, the magic doesn’t stop there. Seki will deliver the cartridge to you personally, you can buy it back for whatever price you want, and you will need to share your story on how you parted with the cartridge, what you did with it, etc. with him so he can document the story on the museum website.

It’s such a fantastic idea and we might be praying that somehow, something we’ve parted with has ended up all the way to Tokyo. We also just want to see the cartridges and feel the nostalgia in person.

The museum recently had an exhibition at the Flyhigh Cade in Tokyo in November/December 2022, but you can check out more details of this wonderful endeavour on the museum’s official website, by following them on Twitter, or by following Seki on Instagram.

Do you remember selling your old games? Would you like to see a museum like this? Let us know in the comments.