Nintendo Patriotic Cards from 1942 and 1943 (Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu / 愛國百人一首)

Nintendo has produced games since its inception in 1889 up to the present day, and we are used to associating them with leisure products that provide entertainment, some education, but mostly innocent excitement and fun. These products are typically devoid of religion, politics, or any belief system, which has contributed to Nintendo's eventual global appeal, crossing borders and cultures.

In today's post, we will take a look at a notable exception to this 'neutral' position: two games that played a role in Japanese government propaganda during the Second World War (1939-1945).

The expansionist policies and military actions of Japan in Asia and the Pacific started in 1931 with the invasion of Manchuria, a region in northeastern China. This was followed by the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937), the Japanese occupation of French Indochina (1940), and the full outbreak of the Second World War in Asia and the Pacific in December 1941 after the surprise attack by the Japanese on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

By December 1942, when the first of these games was published, Japan was a year into a broad and bloody world war affecting millions of people across a large area in Asia and the Pacific. Together with its Axis alliance partners, Germany and Italy, Japan was fighting the Allied forces comprising the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, China, New Zealand, Canada, the Netherlands, India and others.

At this time, the general public back home in Japan was enduring significant hardships due to the ongoing war. The economy was under strain, resources were scarce, and daily life was marked by sacrifices and increased militarization. Although the realities of the war's demands and the early signs of Japan's strategic difficulties, including air raids over Japan, were beginning to affect the population's outlook and daily experienc, propaganda efforts maintained a degree of public morale and support.

In this context, Nintendo and other card manufacturers contributed to such propaganda efforts, either voluntarily or through governmental and societal pressure, by producing so-called Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu (愛國百人一首) games: "One Hundred Patriotic Poems by One Hundred Poets".

Two Nintendo Patriotic cards sets (left and middle) from 1942-'43
and a 1943 book (right) covering the 100 poems included in these games

The Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu game is similar to the well-known Japanese card game Ogura Hyakunin Isshu (小倉百人一首), often shortened to just Hyakunin Isshu, which translates to "One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets."

The difference between Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu and Ogura Hyakunin Isshu is the "patriotic" part.

The Ogura Hyukunin Isshu game is based on a 12th-century anthology of one hundred poems (by one hundred different poets), compiled by Fujiwara no Teika (藤原定家), covering a wide range of subjects and styles. This anthology was intended to be a masterclass in poetry in general.

On the other hand, the Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu consists of one hundred poems (again by one hundred poets) selected specifically to promote nationalism and patriotism in Japan; they were intended to foster a sense of national pride and loyalty to the emperor.

Nintendo Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu (愛國百人一首) card set from December 1942

Apparently, in 1942, the Japanese public was asked to submit candidates for the set of Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu poems, from which a committee of well-known literary scholars, including Nobutsuna Sasaki (佐佐木信綱), selected the final set of one hundred. These were sanctioned by the Japanese government, more specifically, the Information Bureau (情報局), which can be seen as a (war-time) Ministry of Information and Propaganda.

The poems deal with the following topics:

• Nationalism and Patriotism
• Loyalty to the Emperor
• Sacrifice and Duty
• Military Valor and Honor
• Unity and Collective Effort
• Resistance Against Western Influence
• Historical and Mythological References

It is important to note that these poems were not originally written with propaganda in mind, as they all predate the Japanese period of military expansionist ambition. It is the specific selection and combination of these poems, and the way they were positioned and used, that turned them into a tool for propaganda.

This list of one hundred poems was printed in Japanese newspapers, published in books, and used as the basis for the Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu card game produced (in different forms) by a number of different card manufacturers. Here we see the versions made by Nintendo.

Nintendo 1950s Takarazuka cards with box

A couple of years ago, I reported about a set of vintage Nintendo playing cards from the 1950s, that had attracted my special interest. They were for the Takarazuka Revue, a Japanese theater company, and represented some of the earliest (possibly the earliest) Nintendo trump (トランプ) decks with a marketing purpose.

It is a beautiful set of cards, with full color pictures. That previous post can be found here.

Unfortunately, the deck that I had found at the time was missing the box. But that has since been corrected. Recently a version with box came into my possession, and you can see it here.

The box turned out to be just as nice as the cards themselves. It features branding for both Nintendo and the Takarazuka company.

Kyoto Souvenir Playing Cards, closer look part 2

We continue with the second part of detailed look at each of the individual cards in Nintendo Kyoto Souvenir playing cards from the 1950s. The first part can be found here.

Diamonds

The diamonds cards show a wide variety of landmarks and topics related to Kyoto:

• The Kamikamo Shrine (上賀茂神社)
• The Mifune Festival (三船祭)
• The Hozu Rapid (保津急流)
• The Golden pavilion (金閣寺)
• The Tower of Toji Temple (五重塔, 東寺)
• Maiko, Geisha Apprentice (舞妓)
• Kyoto Minami-za Theater (南座)
• The Ryoanji Temple (竜安寺)
• Kyoto Station (京都駅)
• Kyoto Prefectural Government (京都府庁)
• The Silver Pavilion (銀閣寺)
• City Hall (京都市役所)
• Gion Festival (祇園祭)

Kyoto Souvenir Playing Cards, closer look part 1

In this post we will take a closer look at the each of the individual cards in the 1950's Nintendo Kyoto Souvenir deck.

The virtual tour is split up over two posts. Here is the first half, with the spades and hearts. The other half, with diamonds and clubs, can be found here.

Let's take a tour around Nintendo's hometown!

Spades

Of course we start with the spades, in particular with the ace of spades. Besides this trademark card, the images on the cards cover the following landmarks and events in Kyoto:

• The Fushimi-inari Shrine (伏見稲荷大社)
• The Higashihongangi Temple (東本願寺)
• The Honnoji Temple (本能寺)
• The Tofukuji Temple (東福寺)
• The Katsura Imperial Villa (桂離宮)
• Maruyama Park (円山公園)
• Thirty-Three-Span Hall (三十三間堂)
• The National Art Museum (京都国立博物館)
• The Nanzenji Temple (南禅寺)
• The Kiyomizu-dera Temple (清水寺)
• The Tower of Sanpoin Temple (醍醐寺, 五重塔)
• Jidai Matsuri (時代祭)

Nintendo Souvenir Kyoto Playing Cards, at last

This is a story about a very special item in my collection, the Nintendo Souvenir Kyoto Playing Cards.

Nintendo's hometown Kyoto

Kyoto is famous for many things. Before Tokyo, it was the official capital of Japan for over a thousand years, and it is still considered the cultural capital. With hundreds if not thousands of historical sites, it is a major tourist attraction for domestic and foreign visitors.

Kyoto is also the town where Nintendo was founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi, 133 years ago. It has remained the heart of the company's operation to this day.

If you would check Mario's passport, and that of countless other Nintendo creations, you would find Kyoto as the place of birth.

A nice example of the tie between Nintendo and Kyoto is this photo taken at the start of the year in 1949. Nintendo was already sixty years old at the time.

The photo shows a group of (or all?) company employees posing in front of the gate of the Fushimi-inari Shrine, located in the Fushimi ward in the south of Kyoto. This shrine is a popular location to celebrate the start of the new year, one of the most important traditions in Japan.

The gate of this shrine can easily be recognized by the two fox statues standing on either side in front of it.

This photo is a great document of the company at the time. Unfortunately we do not know who all people are that we see here, in their best kimonos and suits. We suspect that the company president at the time, Fusajiro's successor Sekiryo Yamauchi, must be in it. As well as his grandson and future president Hiroshi Yamauchi. But we do not know for sure.

What is undoubtably clear, is that this is a company that is part of the fabric of the city of Kyoto. The two banners on either side of the picture state "Kyoto Nintendo" (京都任天堂).

This connection between Nintendo and Kyoto has remained strong ever since, as is also evident from the images below, taken from a Nintendo company guide from 2012.

Although the company's playfield has become global, Nintendo conducts that business from one place: Kyoto.

Nintendo Souvenir Kyoto Playing Cards

From the moment I first saw the content of the 1950s company report shown below, I have been searching for a particular set of Nintendo playing cards.

This deck, called Souvenir Kyoto Playing Cards, was presented in this document together with many other types of playing cards that Nintendo offered at the time. Of all the products included in this catalogue, this one intrigued me the most.

The concept of playing cards with photos aimed at tourists is not original in itself.

Nintendo Playing Cards catalogue from 1975

From their earliest beginnings well over a century ago, up until the present day, Nintendo has continuously been updating its range of playing cards, responding to trends and changes in customer taste, to sales successes and failures, as well as to new ideas by competitors.

Sales material provides great snapshots of what was available at a specific point in time. In today's post, we will take a look at Nintendo's offering presented in this Playing Cards catalogue from the mid 1970s.

The full-colour brochure is printed on heavy glossy paper. The publication date was July 1975.

Nintendo Playing Cards catalogue (front and back)

It is a single sheet, that has two folds to create six pages in total. When folded close, it is about A4 in size.

Nintendo Playing Cards catalogue (inside)

The image on the front shows a little porcelain statue of a couple playing music and singing. It would have been more appropriate if they had been playing cards, but the feeling of playful social interaction and style is portrayed well.

The top of the line products are shown underneath, with the most luxurious package version (with product code NAP 1505) taking centre stage.

The font used and the lily flower symbol print on the table cloth all add to the sophisticated, classic look they were clearly going for. The visual message: this is is not about toys, but serious fun for adults.

Most of the card decks included in the brochure are variations of the typical graphic, geometrical card back designs.

Nintendo playing cards price increase in 1976

The 1973 / 1974 global oil crisis hit the Japanese economy relatively hard, because of the country's large dependency on foreign energy, mainly in the form of oil. The resulting increasing energy cost caused a strong inflation that echoed on for years.

Like so many other Japanese manufacturers, Nintendo was forced to increase the prices for its products, as we can see in the message below called "guide to partial price revision of playing cards", date December 20th 1975.

The one-sided printed memo measures 18 by 25 centimeters.

Message from Nintendo to Distributors
(December 20 1975)

The message reads:

"Dear Distributor,

We would like to express our sincere gratitude for your continued patronage.

Now, due to the increase in raw materials and processing costs for playing cards, we have decided to revise the following prices for playing cards from January 21, 1976.

In any case, I would like to ask for your understanding and understanding of the circumstances."

This is followed by a table in which the changes are outlined.

Three types of cards are included in the price increase:

• Disney playing cards (ディズニートランプ)
• Ado playing cards (亜土 トランプ)
• Girl playing cards (少女 トランプ)

The 'Ado' cards are designed by famous illustrator Ado Mizumori (水森亜土).

Examples of the three types of effected cards are shown below, taken from a Nintendo product catalogue from July 1975, published a few month before the price change announcement.

For all three types the price is increased from 500 円 to 600 円, a steep 20% increase.

Hiroshima 1929 expo booklet with Nintendo ad

Today we will take a look at the booklet shown below, which is almost a century old. Inside we will discover a nice little nugget of Nintendo history.

The booklet is roughly B6 size (132 by 190 mm), contains 128 black and white printed pages, a color pullout and a color printed front and back.

The title is Great Hiroshima Guide (大廣島案内), which is printed in large red kanji on the front.

The sub title reads Showa Industry Expo Conference (昭和產業博覽會恊贊會), which is sponsored by Hiroshima City (廣島市主催).

As an aside, for those of you not familiar with the changes over time to the writing style of Japanese script, this booklet stems from an era when the custom was to write top-to-bottom and right-to-left.

Great Hiroshima Guide (1929) front page

The drawing on the front shows various landmarks of the city of Hiroshima, including Hiroshima Castle.

On the back we immediately recognize the Itsukushima shrine, located at the shoreline of the nearby Itsukushima island (also known as Miyajima).

Great Hiroshima Guide (1929) back page

The colofon at the back of the booklet indicates that it was printed in March of 1929. That is 94 years ago!

It also states that the booklet was not for sale (非売品).

The booklet was commissioned by the city of Hiroshima, in cooperation with the "Showa Industry Expo Association" (昭和產業博覽會恊賛會), and presumably handed out for free to (prospective) visitors of the expo.

The publisher and editor was Yakichi Ishikawa (石川彌吉).

Colofon

In the preface, the editor explains that the booklet covers the main attractions ("famous places") of the city of Hiroshima and surroundings, using "as many pictures as possible". Information about shops and products is "provided by advertisements".

Indeed, besides editorial content, more than half of the booklet is filled with advertisements.

Preface

At the front of the booklet, there is a very nice pullout map, printed on one side in color. When pulled out, it measures about 46 centimeters wide.

The front of this map shows a drawn aerial view of the city of Hiroshima, with indication of the tram lines and tram stops as well as the locations of the expo. The back shows a map of the greater Hiroshima area, with all railway connections.

Nintendo's oldest playing cards? Marufuku No. 1

Nintendo was founded in Kyoto back in 1889. This means that the oldest items the company produced are now well over a century old.

Some of the oldest items in my collection, possibly the oldest, are these pieces of paper.

They are the remains of a box of one of the earliest sets Western style playing cards manufactured by Nintendo, from the early 1900s.

Five of the original six sides of the box remain. The top side, that functions as a closing lid, unfortunately is missing.

Nintendo Kyoto Souvenir Playing Cards (1950s)

This is a story about a beautiful set of vintage Nintendo playing cards, and dealing with a certain amount of disappointment.

In a previous post, I shared a document from the 1950s, called the Nintendo Playing Cards Report.

This document is both a company introduction and a product catalogue. It provides a comprehensive overview of all products offered by the company at the time; (mostly) playing cards, as the title suggests.

Of all the card sets shown in this document, one set in particular caught my attention: the Kyoto Souvenir Playing Cards (スーベニヤトランプ). This includes a photo of some aspect of Kyoto on each card, so over fifty different photos in total.

This set of cards intrigued me for a number of reasons.

Firstly, the cards look beautiful. Within Nintendo's product portfolio, these are some of the earliest examples of themed cards, that offer more than the standard card suits with a colourful back design. [Another early example are these Nintendo Takarazuka cards.]

Also, there is a strong link between Nintendo and the subject of Kyoto, as it is the company's hometown.

Furthermore, these cards provide a view of how Kyoto, and by extension Japan, presented itself to tourists at that time. They offer a window to that past, when tourism was still largely a domestic affair. Foreign visitors came to Japan only in small numbers, and most non-Japanese tourists in Japan consisted of US troops stationed in Japan following the occupation after Japan's defeat at the end of World War 2.

From the 1950s, the Japanese government did promote tourism to foreign nationals, as it brought in much needed foreign currency, and these cards fit that promotional effort.

Very recently, I managed to find two copies of this set. The first I ever saw, after more than twenty years of searching for vintage Nintendo items. Also the first to appear in collector circles. As you can image, this discovery made me very happy.

Even more fantastic (or so I thought initially), was the fact that they are unused, old stock. [Later it became clear that I celebrated too early, more on that at the end of this post.]

The boxes are in relatively good condition, although they are somewhat dusty. Not surprising really, given their age of around seventy years!

The front and back of the box contain nice drawings of scenes from Kyoto, as well a diamonds and clubs symbols.

Nintendo Report from the 1950s

Here is an interesting document, called the Nintendo Playing Cards Report, from a time in Nintendo's history when they were still mostly designing, manufacturing and selling playing cards. Hiroshi Yamauchi was still in his first decade as company president.

It's a 16-page company profile and product catalogue, printed in black and white, with some spot colours.

An exact publication date is not known, but based on the content it should be after 1953 and probably before 1957. So, roughly mid 1950s. This is a few years before the first Disney themed playing cards and board games ushered in the 'toy' period of the company.

The first pages of the document depict Nintendo as an international player, with Kyoto at the centre of a world map, with connections to all continents.

Key facts related to the company are presented:

• Founded: in the 22nd year of the Meiji era (1889)
• Trade name: Nintendō karuta kabushikigaisha (任天堂骨牌株式会社, or Nintendo Playing Card Company)
• Headquarters office: 60 Fukuinekamitakamatsucho, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto (京都市東山区福稲上高松町60)
• Representative Director and President: Hiroshi Yamauchi (山内博)
• Capital: 30,000,000 yen (roughly 180 million yen in 2022's money)
• Floor area: site one 6,696 tsubo and site two 2,712 tsubo (totals 31,000 square meters, one tsubo equals two tatami mats)
• Branch offices: Tokyo and Osaka
• Number of employees: 423

According to the introduction text:

"We are a manufacturer specializing in playing cards and Hanafuda, a unique traditional industry. [...] our excellent products derived from new equipment and technology have been widely praised by enthusiasts. Our achievements have also continued to increase year by year. Today, we are the largest manufacturer in Japan, accounting for the majority of the production and sales of playing cards."

"Recently, with the strengthening of the synthetic resin division [...] we have spurred the increase in production of the all-plastic "Nap Card" that we were the first to make in Japan, as well as Mahjong and Domino. We have also started manufacturing other resin products and have secured a solid leadership position in the industry."

"Under the brand name Nintendo, these products permeate all over the country through a strong sales network based on long-standing strong credit. They are also exported in large quantities to North America, Hawaii, Southeast Asia, as well as to Latin America and the Middle East, contributing to the acquisition of foreign currency. [...] We would like to express our sincere gratitude to you for your continued patronage, and we ask for your continued patronage in the future."

The next pages show the various buildings and departments of the Nintendo operation in Kyoto.

In the top left corner we see the main office (本社), in the Shimogyo Ward in Kyoto. [As an aside: this is the building that was recently turned into the Hotel Marufukuro.]