History of Nintendo

Nintendo was founded in 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi in Kyoto, Japan.

1889-1929
The Japanese government had placed a ban on all gambling in Japan, and subsequently cards with numerical symbols on them were taken out of circulation. The government, however, did allow for Hanafuda cards, mostly because they weren't generally associated with gambling and had illustrations in lieu of numbers. Still, by the time Hanafuda had been introduced they had relatively little appeal to the Japanese populace. It could be said that they were expected to run their course just as quickly as they arrived. A man by the name of Fusajiro Yamauchi, however, saw the potential in the market and came up with a plan to re-introduce the game to Japan by crafting hand drawn illustrations on cards made of mulberry tree bark. Consequently he opened up a new company named at the time Nintendo Koppai on September 23, 1889 (Fusajiro was thirty one when he opened up the company). The company was based in Kyoto, Japan and had a small building which was deemed the headquarters of Nintendo Koppai (upper right image). In Japan, the name Nintendo is typically translated as "leave luck to heaven", though it is also said to mean "heaven blesses hard work", "in heaven's hands", "work hard, but in the end it's in heaven's hands", or even "The Hall of Entrusting Heaven" (according to the Touch Generations website, the first one is what it officially means).

Nintendo's Hanafuda cards had began to increase in popularity, eventually even being used for gambling which the government had opposed. The Yakuza even began to use Nintendo Koppai's Hanafuda cards. Fusajiro had no choice but to hire more employees so that they could keep up with the demand for his cards. Over the years Nintendo started to manufacture more and more styles of cards, the most popular of which was the Daitouryou, or Napoleon, deck. The Miyako No Hana Hanafuda deck, which was more traditional in style, was also very popular. In 1907 Nintendo Koppai partnered with the Japanese company Japan Tobacco & Salt Corporation (now just Japan Tobacco) which allowed Nintendo to sell their cards in cigarette shops all across Japan. Tei Yamauchi, Fusajiro's daughter, would marry Sekiryo Kaneda in 1907 also. Twenty years later in 1927 Hiroshi Yamauchi, Sekiryo's grandson, was born.

1929-1949
In 1929, Fusajiro Yamauchi retired and deemed his successor to be Sekiryo. However, in order to keep in tradition, Fusajiro adopted Sekiryo, who would then be known as Sekiryo Yamauchi. Three years later in 1932, Hiroshi's father leaves his family and Hiroshi is subsequently sent to live with his grandparents who at the time were in control of Nintendo. A year later a joint venture with another, unknown company was established and Nintendo Koppai was renamed Yamauchi Nintendo & Company. It should also be noted that in 1933 King Kong, which would much later in life prove to be a hindrance on Nintendo, was released in theaters. In January of 1940, Fusajiro Yamauchi died of a stroke during World War II.

Sekiryo decided to organize a new company in 1947 whose sole purpose was to manufacture Nintendo's cards (both Hanafuda and other ones that Nintendo had ushered in over the years), and labeled it Marufuku Company, Ltd. Two years later in 1949, Hiroshi Yamauchi, who was young but capable, was named the successor to Sekiryo due to his poor health. Sekiryo has ran the company for twenty years, but it time to pass the torch onto his grandson. As previously mentioned, Sekiryo's son-in-law Shikanojo Inaba, who despite being adopted into the family, did not become president based on the fact that he left his family. His son, however, who was brought up by Sekiryo, would.