Fusajirō Yamauchi | |
|---|---|
山内 房治郎 | |
 Fusajirō Yamauchi in 1940 | |
| 1st President of Nintendo | |
| In office 23 September 1889 – 1929 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Sekiryo Kaneda |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 22 November 1859 Kyoto, Japan |
| Died | 1 January 1940 (aged 80) Kyoto, Japan |
| Cause of death | Stroke |
| Spouse | Koma Honda (m. 1881) |
| Children | Sada (b. 1887) |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Known for | Founder of Nintendo |
Fusajirō Yamauchi (山内 房治郎, Yamauchi Fusajirō, 22 November 1859 – 1 January 1940), born Fusajirō Fukui (福井 房治郎), was a Japanese entrepreneur who founded Nintendo Kopai, the company now known as Nintendo. Yamauchi lived in Kyoto, Japan and had a wife and a daughter, Tei Yamauchi, who later married Sekiryo Kaneda.
Fusajiro Fukui was born on 22 November 1859, as the oldest son of Sosuke Fukui. Working at Haiko Cement Company, Fukui would receive the surname Yamauchi upon being adopted by Naoshichi Yamauchi in 1872.[1][2]
On 23 September 1889, Fusajiro Yamauchi opened the first Hanafuda[3] (flower cards) card shop called "Nintendo Koppai", during a time when the Japanese government was banning playing cards from the hands of the public, due to them being tied to gambling, with the exception of Yamauchi's playing cards.[4][5] he rapidly began expanding and opened another card shop in Osaka. He later went on to create more card games.
Fusajiro departed from the company in 1929, leaving his son-in-law Sekiryo Kaneda (whose name had changed to Sekiryo Yamauchi) in charge of the company. Fusajiro remained uninvolved in the business for the remainder of his life until he died of a stroke on January 1, 1940, in Kyoto.[6] Fusajiro's great-grandson, Hiroshi Yamauchi, took over Nintendo in September 1949 and ran the company for 53 years, transforming it from a card game company into a multibillion-dollar video gaming company and global conglomerate.