The following is the bare-bones background for an installment column I will be launching on the website of a thinktank in April.
Omake
Books website, at https://omakebooks.com/fr/?fc=module&module=prestablog&controller=blog&id=142,
has a photo of the original home office of the playing card manufacturer that
became the gaming giant Nintendo, taken, it is widely believed, around its
establishment in 1889, when it began manufacturing traditional Japanese playing
cards, the 花札(hanafuda) and most likely other forms of
the かるた(caruta), derived from the Portuguese word carta. I argue that it is more likely to have been taken around 1902,
when the firm began manufacturing paying cards.
Evidence:
1)
Five signboards, from left to right.
A)
Upper left: The hiragana た, obviously the last character
in かるた, and other indiscernible
writing are visible.
B)
Lower left: A small signboard depicting the Nintendo playing card hallmark –Napoleon
Buonaparte.
C)
Middle left: A weather-beaten, traditional signboard with illegible inscription
in small letters (vertical) and かるた(caruta) in large letters (horizontal, from
right to left).
D)
Middle right: A small, triangular, weather-beaten signboard with the Marufuku (福 in
a circle) logo, かるた製造元
(playing
card manufacturer; vertical), and 任天堂
(right
to left) on it.
E)
Right: An outsized, white signboard with MARUFUKU NINTENDO CARD CO. (left to
right) and？印欧米輸出向
(for
exports to ?, India(?), Europe and America; right to left) on top; Marufuku (福 in a circle) logo, かるた製造元 (playing card
manufacturer; right to left), and Marufuku (福 in a circle) logo; and 山内任天堂 (Yamauchi
Nintendo; right to left).
2.
The Bicycle
The bicycle is an old
make, with what appears to be a primitive stand.
3.
The Building
A traditional Kyoto building
to which Western-style cast-iron grilling has apparently been added.
1E)
is the giveaway. Nintendo started manufacturing the four-suit playing cards in
1902; an early example from 1903 survives in the United States. It is unthinkable
that the English name and the announcement of its overseas business could have
long, if at all, predated this turn of events. 1)E) and likely A) and B) must
have been added to the visibly older, traditional B) and C), more appropriate
for the initial domestic hanafuda business.
The
stand is not conclusive. I thought it was a kickstand, a feature that early
bicycles did not have. However, I realized on second thought that it could be
an independent stand, which surely must have been available from the very early
days of the bicycle. The building is even more inconclusive. Mr. Yamauchi
purchased an existing house and adapted it to his purpose.
Could
the photo be of a much later provenance? Possibly, but it is likely to have
been taken at some milestone moment. The street has been cleared, the camera (and
the bicycle) has been carefully positioned; a quiet pride permeates the scene.
Launching its export operations would have been the perfect moment to take a
photo to include in its sales brochure, or whatever Nintendo printed up to project
its corporate image and pitch its products.
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