Nintendo's original headquarters in the Kyoto Prefecture in 1889

Nintendo was founded as Yamauchi Nintendo (山内任天堂) by Fusajiro Yamauchi on September 23, 1889. Based in Kyoto, Japan, the business produced and marketed hanafuda (playing cards). The name "Nintendo" is commonly assumed to mean "leave luck to heaven", but there are no historical records to validate this assumption. The cards, which were all handmade, soon began to gain in popularity, and Yamauchi had to hire assistants to mass-produce cards to keep up with the demand.

Narcissus, Tsuchiya Koitsu (1870-1949), circa 1930
Watercolor on paper (ukiyo-e)

Suisenya
samuki miyako no
kokokashiko

(нарциссы
расцвели в холодной столице
и там и тут)

страшно обожаемый мною
Анри Картье-Брессон, Киото, 1965
Желатиносеребряная фотография (отпечатана позднее)

Evening Bell at Mii-dera Temple, circa 1834; Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858)
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper

Aoki Shōichi for Street magasine, 1995

Swallows with cherry blossom, Ohara Koson (1877–1945), circa 1910
Woodblock print (shin-hanga); ink and color on paper

Seagulls over the waves, Ohara Koson (1877–1945), circa 1915
Woodblock print (shin-hanga); ink and color on paper