Nintendo of America - Awakening in the 80s

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Arakawa Yamayuchi's chosen son-in-law, begrudgingly, who he sends over to set up Nintendo of America. He is also from a very prominent, high society, well respected family in Kyoto. But he left Japan and went to America for his education. And he fell in love with America. Well, this is before he met Yoko, his wife. When he comes back to Japan, he meets Yoko at a Christmas ball while Yoko is in college. And Yoko wants nothing to do with Nintendo. Just like Hiroshi before her wants nothing toDo with Nintendo. Nothing to do with her father,Nothing to do with the family business

You may think you know the Nintendo story: a plumber named Mario, a princess named Zelda… and didn’t they buy the Seattle Mariners at some point? We thought we knew it too. And then we started researching and were blown away.

The lovable Disney-like Nintendo that we know today is a 130 year-old a playing card company (i.e. gambling), forged in the shadowy world of the Yakuza and shaped by a four-generation cycle of bitter family betrayal. And its unlikely transformation into a global multi-billion dollar media monopoly was led by an iron-fisted patriarch who — amazingly — never played a video game in his life! Get ready for one of our favorite stories Acquired has ever told — we couldn’t make this one up if we tried!

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