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How to Get Nintendo Museum Tickets (Even If You Miss Out on the Lottery)
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
When we travelled to Japan, we missed out on getting tickets to the Nintendo Museum, and it was gutting - our kids were really disappointed.
So why should you take advice from someone who hasn't even visited the museum?
Well... because I ended up spending SO MANY hours researching how the system works, what we should have done differently, and how to actually secure tickets even if you lose the lottery.
We eventually figured it all out - just a little too late for our own trip.
This post is everything I wish I’d known earlier, including how the booking system works, the exact days and times you need to be online, plus a helpful bot to monitor availability - so you don’t end up disappointed like we were.
Applying Via the Lottery
Nintendo Museum tickets are released through a monthly lottery, and you apply three months ahead of your desired visit month, although the exact number of days before your trip varies.
That’s because whenever you enter the draw - whether it’s the 1st or the 30th of the month - you’re applying for the month that falls three months later.
So, if you enter the lottery at any point in March, you’re applying for any date in June. So, if you apply on March 1, you’re effectively applying three months ahead, but if you apply on March 30, it could be closer to just two months ahead.
Likewise, if you enter the lottery in April, you’re applying for all July dates… and so on.
Choosing Your Dates
When entering the lottery, you can choose up to three dates, and the system shows you how busy each timeslot currently is. Simply click on one of the dates marked with a small diamond on the calendar, and you’ll be taken to the visit‑time preferences screen.
This page uses a colour‑coded scale ranging from “few” to “many” to indicate how popular each timeslot currently is. It’s an easy way to see which options are quieter, and it helps you choose the dates that give you the best chance of being selected.
Tip: The best day to apply is the last day of the month as by then, you’ll have the clearest picture of which dates are quieter and which ones are already overloaded with applications.
You simply select the number of applicants in your group and then choose your preferred date(s), as shown in the screenshot below. Click “Add a Preferred Entry Time” to select up to the maximum three dates. Choosing all three dates and times gives you the best possible chance of being selected, so it’s worth doing unless you’re restricted to a very specific day or time.
Lottery Results
On the 1st of the following month, Nintendo emails you to let you know whether you were successful. If you win, you’ll have a short window to purchase your tickets, but the process itself is simple and straightforward.
However, most of you reading this post are here because you weren’t successful in the lottery.
So, what happens next? And more importantly, is there still a way to get tickets?
Absolutely. And this is where things get interesting.
The “Second Wednesday” Re‑Release
If you weren't lucky enough to snag a ticket via the lottery, there is still hope.
There is one key date you absolutely need to know about: The “Second Wednesday” Re‑Release
Around two weeks after winners are notified, all unpaid or unclaimed tickets are automatically released back into the pool on the second Wednesday of the month, and surprisingly, a lot of tickets come back.
This is because people’s plans change, some apply with friends and end up winning multiple slots, and others simply forget to complete the payment in time.
This drop is your second major chance to grab tickets, and for many people, it’s actually the moment they end up being successful.
Set Your Alarm
These returned tickets drop at a specific time (at 2:00pm JST), which for us in Canada meant being online at around 10pm the night before.
This was our big mistake. Make sure you are online at 2pm JST.
Due to our time difference, we needed to be online on the Tuesday, the day before the second‑Wednesday ticket drop. By the time we logged in it was Thursday in Japan, and there were only a handful of slots left, and sadly none of them lined up with our Kyoto dates.
Booking the Tickets
If you’re logged in at the right time, you’ll see that many dates suddenly show an “O” on the calendar, which means tickets are available. When you click on one of those dates, you’ll be taken to the next page where you choose the exact time slot you would like to book based on what is available.
You’ll see availability shown using the symbols in the table below.
Symbol | Meaning |
○ | Available / Plenty of availability |
△ | Limited availability / Only a few spots left |
× | Unavailable / Sold out |
Once you’re logged in (highly recommended), click “Confirm Email Address” to move to the ticket‑selection and pricing page.
From there, simply select the number of tickets that you want and click “Proceed Without Changes” to move ahead with the booking and complete your purchase.
Once you have selected your tickets, you will have 15 minutes to complete your booking, where you will need to confirm your purchaser info, visitor info, payment details and final confirmation.
Nintendo Museum Bot on Bluesky
If you’ve missed the re‑release, or there simply weren’t any dates that lined up with your travel plans, there’s still some hope, although at this point it really comes down to persistence, luck, and a bit of trial and error.
One option we used was a community‑run tracking bot on Bluesky, which is a little bit like X, which posts every hour which tickets have been released.
Kyoto Console Museum (bot)
It’s genuinely helpful for checking when new tickets appear, but in reality, we found that by the time the bot notified us (even just one minute later) the tickets were already gone.
So, while it’s great for spotting trends, the fastest and most reliable method is still refreshing the website yourself on the hour.
Tickets often reappear exactly at :00, so have your session loaded in advance and refresh the moment the clock changes.
Final Thoughts on the Nintendo Museum Lottery
I think by now you've probably gathered that the Nintendo Museum lottery system is messy, competitive and a little bit chaotic, but hopefully this post has given you some hope but it’s also not impossible.
The key is knowing the timing, using every opportunity, and acting fast.
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