Nintendo: The Company and its Founders - Sharyland ISD

PLAYING CARDS
A NEW ERA
Despite his rebellious, spoiled ways, Hiroshi
appeared to value succeeding on his own. In 1945,
he enrolled in law school at Waseda University in
Tokyo. There were no plans in play at the time for
running his family’s company.
When Sekiryo suffered a stroke and was near
death, he contacted Hiroshi, his only grandson. He
wanted to pass the business on to him, his only male
heir. Hiroshi agreed, but only if his grandfather
fired a family member, an older cousin who was still
working at Nintendo. Hiroshi did not want anyone
to question who was in charge of the new company,
and firing the only other blood relative would
secure his position as the man in charge. Employees
had heard rumors that their new leader would fire
every manager, and the rumors were true. Hiroshi
had his cousin fired, and then he proceeded to fire
every manager with a link to the conservative style
of the previous leadership. Hiroshi wanted to run
the company his own way. He did not want to fight
about the old, conservative way of doing things.
Hiroshi, only 21 years old, became president
of Nintendo in 1949, running the company with
strict, imperial control. He made all decisions. His
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