Nintendo was founded in 1889 as a company producing hanafuda playing cards.
Fusajiro Yamauchi established the business in Kyoto, Japan, where it manufactured handmade hanafuda cards. Hanafuda is a Japanese card-game tradition using illustrated cards arranged into monthly suits rather than the familiar four-suit Western deck.
Nintendo spent many decades as a playing-card company before entering electronic entertainment. During the twentieth century it explored businesses including toys, games, and other products. Its move into arcade and home video games eventually transformed the company into a global entertainment and technology brand.
People sometimes assume Nintendo began as a video-game manufacturer because of its modern identity. The company's 1889 origin predates its first home video-game hardware by many decades. Nintendo's historical corporate name and structure changed over time, but the playing-card origin is a central part of its history.