Editing Nintendo (section)

==== 1933–1968: Incorporation and expansion ====
{{Multiple image
| align             = right
| total_width       = 385
| image1            = Nintendo Former Headquarters Building.jpg
| alt1              = 
| caption1          = Former Nintendo headquarters (1933–1959), rebuilt from the right section of the original building
| image2            = Nintendo former headquarter plate Kyoto.jpg
| alt2              = 
| caption2          = English company information plate in the former Nintendo headquarters
}}

In 1933, Sekiryo Kaneda established the company as a [[general partnership]] named {{Nihongo foot|Yamauchi Nintendo & Co., Ltd.|山内任天堂株式会社|Yamauchi Nintendō kabushiki gaisha|group=lower-alpha}}<ref name="Nintendo History" /> investing in the construction of a new corporate headquarters located next to the original building,{{Sfn|Sheff|2011}} near the [[Toba-kaidō Station|Toba-kaidō train station]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/4129171/nintendo-tatsumi-kimishima/ |title=President Tatsumi Kimishima on the Future of Nintendo |last=Peckham |first=Matt |date=3 December 2015 |magazine=Time |access-date=25 May 2020 |archive-date=28 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200828160742/https://time.com/4129171/nintendo-tatsumi-kimishima/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Because Sekiryo's marriage to Yamauchi's daughter produced no male heirs, he planned to adopt his son-in-law Shikanojo Inaba, an artist in the company's employ and the father of his grandson [[Hiroshi Yamauchi|Hiroshi]], born in 1927. However, Inaba abandoned his family and the company, so Hiroshi was made Sekiryo's eventual successor.{{Sfn|Sheff|1999|page=16}}

[[World War II]] negatively impacted the company as Japanese authorities prohibited the diffusion of foreign card games, and as the priorities of Japanese society shifted, its interest in recreational activities waned. During this time, Nintendo was partly supported by a financial injection from Hiroshi's wife Michiko Inaba, who came from a wealthy family.{{Sfn|Gorges|2015a|p=23}} In 1947, Sekiryo founded the distribution company {{Nihongo foot|Marufuku Co., Ltd. |丸福株式会社|Marufuku kabushiki gaisha|group=lower-alpha}} responsible for Nintendo's sales and marketing operations, which would eventually go on to become the present-day Nintendo Co., Ltd., in Higashikawara-cho, Imagumano, [[Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto]].<ref name="Corporate Information : Company History" /><ref name="Nintendo History" /><ref name="Nintendo Probably Doesn't Mean What You Think It Does" />

{{Multiple image
| align             = left
| total_width       = 385
| image1            = 
| alt1              = 
| caption1          = [[Hiroshi Yamauchi]], former Nintendo president (1949–2002)
| image2            = Nintendo 1949 New Year staff commemoration.webp
| alt2              = 
| caption2          = 1949 New Year Nintendo staff commemoration
}}

In 1950, due to Sekiryo's deteriorating health,{{Sfn|Gorges|2015a|p=24}} Hiroshi Yamauchi assumed the presidency and headed manufacturing operations.<ref name="Corporate Information : Company History" /><ref name="Nintendo History" /> His first actions involved several important changes in the operation of the company: in 1951, he changed the company name to {{Nihongo foot|Nintendo Playing Card Co., Ltd. |任天堂骨牌株式会社|Nintendō Karuta kabushiki gaisha|group=lower-alpha}}<ref name="Corporate Information : Company History" /><ref name="Nintendo History" /><ref name="Vooks">{{cite web |url=https://www.vooks.net/meet-the-6-presidents-of-nintendos-130-year-history/ |title=Meet the 6 Presidents of Nintendo's 130 year history |website=Vooks |last=Henderson |first=Luke |date=30 April 2018 |access-date=25 May 2020 |archive-date=5 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805040428/https://www.vooks.net/meet-the-6-presidents-of-nintendos-130-year-history/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and in the following year, he centralized the manufacturing facilities dispersed in Kyoto, which led to the expansion of the offices in Kamitakamatsu-cho, Fukuine, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto.<ref name="Corporate Information : Company History" /><ref name="Nintendo History" />{{Sfn|Gorges|2015a|p=25}} In 1953, Nintendo became the first company to succeed in mass-producing plastic playing cards in Japan.<ref name="Corporate Information : Company History" /><ref name="Nintendo History"/> Some of the company's employees, accustomed to more cautious and conservative leadership, viewed the new measures with concern, and the rising tension led to a call for a [[Strike action|strike]]. However, the measure had no major impact, as Hiroshi resorted to the dismissal of several dissatisfied workers.{{Sfn|Gorges|2015a|p=26}}

In 1959, Nintendo moved its headquarters to Kamitakamatsu-cho, Fukuine, Higashiyama-ku in [[Kyoto]]. The company entered into a partnership with [[Walt Disney Animation Studios|Walt Disney Productions]] to incorporate its characters into playing cards, which opened it up to the children's market and resulted in a boost to Nintendo's playing card business.<ref name="Corporate Information : Company History" /><ref name="Nintendo History" /><ref name="Vooks"/> Nintendo automated the production of Japanese playing cards using backing paper, and also developed a distribution system that allowed it to offer its products in toy stores.<ref name="Corporate Information : Company History" />{{Sfn|Sheff|2011}} By 1961, the company had established a Tokyo branch in [[Chiyoda, Tokyo]],<ref name="Corporate Information : Company History" /> and sold more than 1.5&nbsp;million card packs, holding a high [[market share]], for which it relied on televised advertising campaigns.{{Sfn|Gorges|2015a|p=28}} In 1962, Nintendo became a public company by listing stock on the second section of the [[Osaka Exchange|Osaka Securities Exchange]] and the Kyoto Stock Exchange.<ref name="Corporate Information : Company History" /><ref name="Nintendo History" /> In the following year, the company adopted its current name, {{Nihongo foot|Nintendo & Co., Ltd.|任天堂株式会社|Nintendō kabushiki gaisha|group=lower-alpha}} and started manufacturing games in addition to playing cards.<ref name="Corporate Information : Company History" /><ref name="Nintendo History"/>

In 1964, Nintendo earned {{JPY|150 million}}.{{Sfn|Gorges|2015a|p=29}} Although the company experienced a period of economic prosperity, the Disney cards and derived products made it dependent on the children's market. The situation was exacerbated by the falling sales of its adult-oriented playing cards caused by Japanese society gravitating toward other hobbies such as [[pachinko]], [[bowling]], and nightly outings.{{Sfn|Gorges|2015a|p=28}} When Disney card sales began to decline, Nintendo realized that it had no real alternative to alleviate the situation.{{Sfn|Gorges|2015a|p=29}} After the 1964 [[1964 Summer Olympics|Tokyo Olympics]], Nintendo's stock price plummeted to its lowest recorded level of {{JPY|60}}.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4S7dvvs_0nIC&pg=PT44 |title=Freelancers!: A Revolution in the Way We Work |isbn=9781625166166 |last1=Gregory |first1=Tony |date=12 March 2013 |publisher=Strategic Book |access-date=9 May 2015 |archive-date=1 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101083131/https://books.google.com/books?id=4S7dvvs_0nIC&pg=PT44 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M-pGHGDm5a4C&pg=PA12 |title=The Story of Nintendo |isbn=9781448870431 |last1=Sutherland |first1=Adam |date=15 January 2012 |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group |access-date=9 May 2015 |archive-date=1 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101083131/https://books.google.com/books?id=M-pGHGDm5a4C&pg=PA12 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1965, Nintendo hired [[Gunpei Yokoi]] to maintain the assembly-line machines used to manufacture its playing cards.<ref name="gi116">{{cite magazine |date=January 2002 |title=Forgotten Giant: The Brilliant Life and Tragic Death of Gunpei Yokoi |magazine=[[Game Informer]] |volume=12 |issue=105 |page=116}}</ref>