Need to Know

Kyoto – Transforming a historically significant landmark into a luxury hotel, the original Nintendo headquarters are being repurposed into a hospitality destination. Set to open in April 2022, the Marufukuro hotel will welcome avid gamers and luxurians alike.

Designed by Tokyo-based renovation company Play Do See and supervised by Japanese architect Tadao Ando, the hotel will preserve many of the fittings and details from the original site. Dating back to 1933, the building pays homage to Nintendo’s humble beginnings as a purveyor of Western-style playing cards. With a total of 18 guest rooms, a restaurant, bar, spa, and gym, the boutique hotel transports travellers into past eras while offering luxury services and experiences.

The renovation of the building, vacant since 1959, will allow consumers to experience the evolution of the technology company at first hand. Tapping into our Traveltainment trend, this hotel re-imagines the potential of vacant cultural landmarks by blending Nintendo’s brand history with luxury hospitality services.

People across the UK are throwing away a staggering amount of produce, with research revealing that consumer indecision is fuelling food waste. Every year, £1.2bn ($1.6bn, €1.4bn) of food is thrown away because British consumers don’t know what to cook, according to Censuswide.

According to the report, an average of nearly three items are thrown away per household every week ­– totalling an estimated 76m items being discarded nationally. Interestingly, the report finds that a fifth of Britons believe that a leading cause of food waste is not knowing what to cook, giving food companies the opportunity to develop campaigns and services that address this issue.

Zero-waste cooking is becoming mainstream, from saving unwanted fruit and veg to scaling back on supermarket trips. Ikea’s ScrapBook CookBook, for example, markets recipes made from leftovers in an easy-to-understand way.