In the age of action games, Nintendo told a folk tale — and made Koji Kondo score it like a poem.
Everything else on the shelf in 1987 asked how fast you were. This one asked whether you could sit still.
Nintendo owned the most famous reflexes in the world, and for a season it spent them on a boy born from a peach — the story a parent tells a child, put on the machine the child had begged for.
Koji Kondo wrote it quiet. Not the fanfare of a world being won; the sound of someone speaking, and someone else listening.
— inspired by Shigeru Miyamoto
A customer bought the poster and told me, standing right at the counter, that he was a fan of this one. Not of the era, not of the machine. Of this game.
I understand that. I was a child when it came out, and it reached a place the action games never got near. In 1987 everything else on the shelf asked how fast your hands were. This one asked whether you could sit still and read.
It did not fit on one Disk Card, so Nintendo gave it two. The first half arrived on 4 September 1987, the second half four weeks later on the 30th, as its own yellow disk. Shigeru Miyamoto supervised it. Koji Kondo — whose Mario and Zelda themes were by then simply the sound of the Famicom — scored this one quiet. Not the fanfare of a world being won. The sound of someone speaking, and someone else listening.
On my street, every kid was reading the same screen. This one and Famicom Detective Club both, all of us in separate houses, at the same hour. Anyone who got through the first disk, I would wager, went and found the second. Nobody stops a folk tale halfway.
The tale is the oldest one Japan has: the boy born from a peach. Nintendo kept the peach and changed everything after it — two children, Donbe and Hikari, walking through the story every Japanese child already knows, until it turns and tells them whose children they actually are.
The man who ran Pax Softnica, the studio that built it, said years afterwards that of everything he ever worked on, this is the one that made him cry.
Nintendo has still never translated it. Some things are made for the people directly in front of you, and that is not the smaller ambition.
About this game
On September 4, 1987, Nintendo gave the Famicom a game you played by reading. Four weeks later, on September 30, it gave you the rest — the story did not fit on one Disk Card, so the second half shipped as its own disk.
Shigeru Miyamoto supervised it. Koji Kondo — whose Mario and Zelda themes were by then simply the sound of the Famicom — scored this one.
The tale is the oldest one Japan has: Momotaro, the boy born from a peach. Nintendo kept the peach and changed everything after it. Two children, Donbe and Hikari, walk through the story every Japanese child already knows — until it turns and tells them whose children they actually are.
Key Features
Text-based point-and-click adventure: players navigate menus and make decisions that advance the story. Full Japanese folk tale narrative arc — multiple classic stories (Momotaro, Issun-boshi, Urashima Taro) are woven together. Dual-protagonist structure: Donbe (boy) and Hikari (girl) have separate but intersecting story paths. The game is split across two Disk Cards — Part 1 (Zenpen) and Part 2 (Kouhen) — requiring the player to acquire and play both for the complete story. Disk System save functionality allows the story to be resumed across sessions.
Gallery
The Story Behind
Every child watching television in 1987 already knew these stories. Manga Nippon Mukashibanashi had been broadcasting since 1975 and would keep going until 1994 — more than a thousand episodes of exactly this material, the same tales, week after week. Nintendo never had to explain who Momotaro was.
1987 was the Disk System’s best year: sixty-nine new titles reached the format, more than in any other year of its life. Nintendo spent two of those slots on this one.
Tricks & Tales
The man who ran Pax Softnica described, years later, the commercial that ran for it on Japanese television: Momotaro, Kintaro, one old hero after another climbing into an enormous cooking pot until the whole of Japanese folklore was boiling in a single stew. It is a fair description of the game. Of everything he ever worked on, this is the one that made him cry.
Nintendo has still never translated it. The Switch Online library reopened the Disk System’s shelf decades later and this one went back on it — in Japan, in Japanese, only.
Collector's Guide
Region & Compatibility
Japan exclusive — no international release has been made. The game has never been officially translated into English. A working Famicom Disk System unit is required to play. The game requires two Disk Cards for the complete story: Part 1 (Zenpen, released September 4, 1987) and Part 2 (Kouhen, released September 30, 1987). Nintendo Switch Online added this to the Japan library, confirmed Japan-only. Unofficial English patches exist online.
Maintenance Tips
Shin Onigashima requires a working Famicom Disk System — the belt drive mechanism must be functional. See The Legend of Zelda entry for FDS belt maintenance details. The game spans two Disk Cards — verify both are readable before purchase or use. The Disk System's save function stores progress; test that save and load functions work before extended play sessions. Complete sets (both Disk Cards in original sleeves with insert) are increasingly rare.
Going deeper
Explore the machine this game ran on, and what to check before you buy or care for one:
What to Watch Out For
Before buying, these are the points worth knowing — from someone who handles original Japanese Famicom Mukashibanashi: Shin Onigashima copies regularly.
What hardware do I need to play a Famicom Disk System game?
An FDS game requires three components: a Famicom console, the RAM Adapter (which plugs into the cartridge slot), and the Disk Drive unit (connected to the RAM Adapter). The drive requires its own power supply (six C-cell batteries or an AC adapter). Without both the RAM Adapter and disk drive, FDS disks cannot be played. The Famicom Disk System was sold exclusively in Japan and was never released elsewhere.
Are Famicom Disk System disks and drives still reliable after 35+ years?
Disk reliability varies — the magnetic media can degrade over time. More commonly, the rubber drive belt inside the FDS disk unit degrades with age, causing read errors even on undamaged disks. Belt replacement is the most common and important FDS maintenance repair. If you plan to use FDS games, have the drive belt inspected before use. A working drive with a fresh belt can read original disks reliably.
How does saving work on Famicom Disk System games?
FDS games save directly back to the floppy disk itself — there is no internal battery backup. Data is written to the disk after the save command is given, so the disk can be overwritten. To protect original game data, cover the write-enable notch with tape to make the disk read-only. Many collectors keep one play copy and one archival copy for important titles. Never power off the Famicom during a disk write operation.
Before You Buy
Things worth knowing before you buy Famicom Mukashibanashi: Shin Onigashima
A short checklist for buying a used Famicom Disk System disk wisely — useful with any seller, anywhere.
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Choose a seller who tests it before shipping
A copy that has actually been powered on and checked is a known quantity. An untested one is a gamble you only settle after it arrives.
Look for a seller who states it was function-tested and says what they confirmed. A serious seller can tell you exactly what was checked.
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Inspect the disk and its shell
Disk System media is fragile — the magnetic disk can wear, and saves are written back onto the disk itself.
Ask whether it was tested and reads reliably; look for cracks or a warped shell in photos.
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Make sure it fits your console
This is Japanese Famicom Disk System media and requires a Famicom with a working Disk System drive.
Play it on a matching Japanese console or a region-free system, and confirm the listing states the region.
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Mind the drive belt on the console side
Disk System drives commonly need a replacement belt to read reliably — this is a console matter, not the disk.
If reading is unreliable, the console's belt is the usual culprit, not the game.
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Read the seller's reviews and return policy
A 100% positive record across thousands of sales is close to a guarantee — packing, communication and problem-solving all work for everyone. A return policy protects you if something is off.
Read the feedback and confirm a clear return window before you buy.
The last step before buying anywhere is knowing what it's worth.
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Rooms this game lives in
Wander deeper — explore the themed rooms where Famicom Mukashibanashi: Shin Onigashima sits alongside its kin.
Memories from around the world
This is a young museum, and this page is still waiting for its first voices. The memories people send reach Taisei personally, and the ones that move him find a home here over time — always with the writer's blessing. Yours could be the very first for this game.
Share your memory ↑From the Museum's Screening Room
Shin Onigashima — Max Explains