- Nintendo WII and Focus on Health - Larry D. Moore at Wikimedia Commons
Nintendo Company Limited was founded on September 23, 1889 in Kyoto, Japan by Fusajiro Yamauchi. The meaning of the company name has been translated into English as “the place where we leave it up to the gods and do the best we can." Nintendo has also been translated into English to mean, "leave luck to heaven."
Nintendo's Founder Fusajiro Yamauchi
Fusajiro Yamauchi was born in Kyoto, Japan. As a young artist and entrepreneur, Fusajiro Yamauchi created handmade hanafuda cards for a popular Japanese game. One can only wonder if it was his love of art or his love of business that drove him forward.
Yet, card games were popular in Asia long before Fusajiro Yamauchi was born. Travelers from Europe brought early card games to the East. In fact, European card games were introduced to Japanese culture in the mid-1500s. Interest in the games quickly rose. Not only were the games seen as being fun, players also saw the games as a means to generate revenue.
Taking a Gamble With Japanese Hand Cards
By the 1600s, hand cards were frequently used for gambling. When Japan's relationship with the West deteriorated, particularly during the reign of the Tokugawa shogunate (the shogunate ruled from Tokyo, a city a little more than a two hour train ride from Kyoto), the cards were banned. Not everyone adhered to the ban.
Tokugawa shogunate 's reign ended on January 3, 1868 after a group of samurai overthrew the organization. Japan was no longer cut off from the West; the long standing Tokugawa clan dynasty also ended. A smaller lifestyle and cultural change (that would prove huge for Nintendo) brought on by the end of the Tokugawa shogunate reign was the lifting of the ban on game cards.
The cards that Fusajiro Yamauchi designed were created from mitsu-mata trees. Once created Fusajiro Yamauchi took the cards into his small shop and painted them. He was 29 years old when he started Nintendo. Had he been born 20 years sooner than he was the story behind Nintendo might not have been realized.
How a Small Shop Became the Game Giant Nintendo
For approximately two years Fusajiro Yamauchi busied himself painting the game cards that were generally played with two to six people. Demand for the cards increased. A budding entrepreneur, Fusajiro Yamauchi realized that he had to hire employees in order to meet the growing demand.
In 1907 Fusajiro Yamauchi and his game card company started to design game cards for Western consumers. Some of the cards were designed with Walt Disney characters on them. By 1930, Nintendo had become Japan's largest manufacturer of playing cards.
Since its inception, the company's name has changed from Yamauchi Nintendo & Company to Nintendo Playing Card Company Limited and finally, in the 1960s, to Nintendo Company Limited. Fusajiro Yamauchi retired in 1929. He passed away in 1940 after he suffered a stroke.
He had one child, a daughter named Tei Yamauchi. His daughter's husband, Sekiryo Kaneda, succeeded him as Nintendo's president. The leadership of several company presidents saw Nintendo evolve and change. As of January 2010, WII, an interactive video game, was one of company's leading entertainment systems.
Sources:Nintendo WII Official Website. 28 March 2010.
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