On September 23, 1889, Fusaijiro Yamauchi officially founded Nintendo Koppai in Kyoto, Japan.
The company originally made playing cards (koppai is “cards” in Japanese) and would go on to revolutionize video games, games consoles and create some of the largest entertainment franchises in the world.
When it was founded, Nintendo made Hanafuda playing cards. The government had only just legalized the cards, which had become a favourite for gamblers. Today, Hanafuda is played during Japanese New Year holidays (similiar to how Western families will come together to play Monopoly and then fall out with each other).
Fun fact – it’s still unclear what the company’s name actually means. One rough transation points to it meaning “leave luck to heaven” which seems incorrect given the nature of the business.
You can see the original pre-World War II headquarters above, and below you can see a photo of Napoleon, the oldest Daitouryou deck the company still proudces and sells (going on 100-years now).
Happy Birthday, Nintendo.
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