Hanafuda: How a Banned Game Defined the Pre-Pokémon Era

Hanafuda: How a Banned Game Defined the Pre-Pokémon Era

Long before Mario jumped his first barrel, and a century before Pokémon fit in a pocket, Nintendo was already a household name in Japan. But let’s be clear: their customers weren’t kids, and they weren’t playing video games. They were yakuza gangsters sitting in smoke-filled rooms, and their game of choice was a deck of cards called hanafuda. Today, we think of Nintendo as the ultimate family-friendly brand. But the company’s foundation is built…