
Nintendo's washable playing cards from 1953 - polm23
http://blog.beforemario.com/2020/06/nintendos-washable-playing-cards-from.html
======
Isamu
After watching “Summer Wars” (spoiler alert: Japan is saved through a heroic
game of Koi-Koi) I went shopping for a hanafuda deck and was delighted to find
that Nintendo still makes them! I am still bad at Koi-Koi but I love my
Nintendo cards!

[https://store.nintendo.com/daitouryou-hanafuda-cards-
red.htm...](https://store.nintendo.com/daitouryou-hanafuda-cards-red.html)

~~~
zapzupnz
They also included Koi-Koi in Clubhouse Games/51 Worldwide Games, recently
released on the Switch. The 'Impossible' CPU is a fairly worthy opponent for a
computer player (many others in the same collection are hopeless), making it
very nice when you don't have a human with whom to play!

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melvinroest
Is it only Japan that has such a long time horizon? I feel like that a subset
of Japanese companies really try their best to simply stay alive for hundreds
of years.

Just looking at this list, Japan just obliterates any other country in having
the oldest companies in the world [1].

I feel like there are lessons to be learned here. I hope someone on HN knows a
thing or two about it.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_companies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_companies)

~~~
bobthepanda
Japan has an extensive history of employers adopting male employees to keep
successors "in the family", which may explain at least part of this:
[https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/japanese-
adoption-r...](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/japanese-adoption-
rates-majority-adult-men-a7524301.html) The Western family unit has not
generally been associated with business as strongly.

One could also make the point that Japan's long time horizons were a leading
factor in the "lost decade"; Western companies reorganize and recapitalize
through bankruptcy and some do not survive the process, but Japan's focus on
stability kept "zombie" companies operating longer than they should have.

~~~
082349872349872
Western companies also reorganise involuntarily, through leveraged buy-outs.
Are these not big in Japan?

~~~
bobthepanda
Not really, at least not until recently: [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-
private-equity-asia-break...](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-private-
equity-asia-breakingviews/breakingviews-buyout-giants-break-through-the-ice-
in-japan-idUSKBN1CB06U)

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chrisco255
Still amazed that a company like Nintendo survived over 100 years of dramatic
cultural and economic change in Japan and remains as relevant and innovative
as ever. How is a company culture for creativity sustained like that for so
long? Most corporations seem to go stale especially after the founders die off
or fade out.

~~~
tenebrisalietum
Wikipedia article for "List of oldest companies" \-
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_companies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_companies)
\- Japan has the oldest one still technically operating (which is Kongō Gumi).

The good thing about this is that this shows that it's not impossible for
Nintendo to be around 1000 years later.

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Legogris
In recent decades, hanafuda cards are probably used moreso in South Korea than
in Japan in the game Go-Stop. Classic gambling game. It's really fun!
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go-Stop](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go-Stop)

Rules:
[https://www.pagat.com/fishing/gostop.html](https://www.pagat.com/fishing/gostop.html)

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Closi
Very cool bit of Nintendo history, although as someone with a passion for
cards, paper cards with a good finish are still the gold standard.

~~~
Isamu
Seems like there isn’t a variety of finishes available like there used to be?
Finding the right finish is critical in card handling and close up magic.

~~~
Legogris
I own decks with 3 different material and feel to them and I haven't really
went out of my way to look for them - just been picking them up when I'm out
and about and either need a deck to play, for souvenirs, or see one I like.

My favorite so far is an Evangelion themed one. A bit gimmicky and may be
confusing to play with but I think the art is actually nice.
[http://www.tabroid.net/news/2012/06/enjoy-hanafuda-with-
eva-...](http://www.tabroid.net/news/2012/06/enjoy-hanafuda-with-eva-fuda-
evangelion-flower-card.html)

That being said, I haven't seen magic being done with these kinds of cards -
they're much harder and smaller (think hard carton rather than paper) so you'd
have to come up with new routines specifically for them.

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twic
A fun (i thought) fact i heard the other day is that both Nintendo (founded
1889) and Coca-Cola (founded 1886) predate Dracula (published 1897). So it
would be entirely euchronistic for an adaption to feature Dracula lounging
about, drinking Coke and playing Nintendo.

