Nintendo: The Company and its Founders - Sharyland ISD

NINTENDO
MATERNAL STRENGTH
Hiroshi’s grandmother, Tei
Yamauchi, was a strong
woman. When World War II
broke out in 1939, the rest of
Tei’s family went underground
as the sirens rang all night in
Kyoto. But Tei refused to let
her life be disrupted, going
about her business as if nothing
at all was unusual. She
also protected Hiroshi from
going to war by forcing him
to stay in school until the war
ended in 1945.
would occur under Hiroshi’s strong
leadership, eventually making
him one of the richest men in
the world. However, there would
be bumps along the road to his
success.
When Hiroshi was only five
years old, Shikanojo ran away
from home, abandoning his young
wife and son. Kimi was unable to
raise Hiroshi on her own, and she
turned him over to her parents, the
strict Tei and Sekiryo. However,
their conservative approach to
child rearing brought out the rebel
in young Hiroshi. As he grew into
his teenage years, he became the
opposite of the modest Japanese
gentleman he was raised to be by
his grandparents. He developed a
brash lifestyle that made a spectacle
of his wealth. He carried himself
publicly with an arrogant, devilmay-care
attitude.
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