The cards I found are from the 1960’s when Nintendo was the official partner for Disney playing cards in Japan. I knew Nintendo was a playing card company before they revolutionized the video game industry, but I never knew that they were official partners with Disney. To think that the two biggest entertainment companies of my childhood were once officially connected fascinates me.
Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of popular beloved Nintendo video game series Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, says he was influenced by Disney cartoons and compared his games as similar to popular Disney films and cartoons.
Below are the photos I took of my deck of Nintendo playing cards:
The Nintendo playing cards also came with a set of instructions (which are in Japanese so I am unable to read them), but am definitely grateful they are still intact and in excellent condition.
So Let’s Take a Look at the History of Nintendo
Most people think Nintendo was created and kickstarted the huge video game boom in the 1980s. And while they did revive and kickstart the new video game industry, Nintendo was actually founded back in the late 1800s. 1889 to be exact!
Nintendo Playing Cards Started Back in 1889
Despite popular belief, Nintendo actually was started back in 1889 when its creator, Fusajiro Yamauchi, centered its company around creating Hanafuda card games.Card games were a popular form of gambling in Japan through the 1600s until Japan closed off all contact with the western world in 1633 and banned all foreign playing cards.
Card games were banned on and off throughout the following years and were not all that popular since they kept being repressed by the government. However, in 1889, Fusajiro Yamauchi founded Nintendo Koppai specifically to sell hand-crafted Hanafuda painted on Mulberry Tree Bark.
While the game has many different rules and took a while to catch on, the Yakuza began using Hanafuda in their gambling parlors and card games started becoming popular again in Japan.
What did some original Nintendo Playing Cards look like?
Many times they were packed in containers similar to the image below:
Nintendo Becomes Official Partner of Disney Playing Cards
Nintendo continued to make playing cards throughout World War II and in 1959, Hiroshi Yamauchi, then president of Nintendo partnered with Walt Disney Productions to start creating playing cards and toys with Disney characters in Japan.
The combination of the two companies has had a huge impact on the creation of many of the most popular Nintendo games, especially games created by Shigeru Miyamoto.
Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the popular Super Mario and Legend of Zelda series, has mentioned on multiple occasions that he grew up watching Disney movies and that they have influenced his games. He also has mentioned his confusion as to how parents allow their children to watch Disney movies but have to think twice about letting their children play Nintendo games.
Disney has definitely had a very big influence in many of our lives including helping influence many of our favorite video game creators and film directors of today.
I am very happy to have found this unique pairing of two of the biggest influences of my childhood!
Does Nintendo Still Make Playing Cards?
Nintendo does actually still make cards in Japan including a special edition Mario themed set previously only available through Club Nintendo. While not nearly a focus like it used to be, it’s mostly in recognition of the history of Nintendo.
It’s great to have a unique piece of Nintendo history as part of my video game and Nintendo collection. I’ve got another Nintendo collection piece coming soon that has to do with one of my favorite Nintendo Game Cube Games, which you can watch here in my Luigi’s Mansion Walkthrough.
Thank you for reading and let me know what your favorite Nintendo game and or collector’s item is your favorite from your own Nintendo collection in the comments or connect with me on social media!