Celebrating a Century: Takaya Imamura Reflects on Nintendo’s Remarkable Journey
By It’s understandable — not everyone finds joy in commemorating their birthdays, even the significant ones. But come on, Nintendo, how could you possibly not revel in your 100th anniversary?
According to former Nintendo artist Takaya Imamura — the designer behind F-Zero, Star Fox, and art director for Majora’s Mask — Nintendo completely overlooked its centenary celebration. He disclosed this during an interview with 4Gamer (thanks to Time Extension and TheGamer for bringing this to light) regarding the upcoming online game adaptation of his manga series, Omega 6: The Triangle Stars.
Imamura explained that when he joined the company in 1989 — coincidentally the year Nintendo turned 100 — the focus was not really on celebrations, partly due to the down-to-earth philosophy of the then CEO and president, Hiroshi Yamauchi (translated via Google):
“I joined the company in the year of Nintendo’s 100th anniversary. At that time, society was in a bubble, so companies would take their job-secured students on trips and organize parties to prevent them from feeling left out, but Nintendo did nothing (laughs). We didn’t even celebrate our 100th anniversary, as it was a company that never got overly excited.”
Reflecting on Yamauchi, Imamura-san shared with 4Gamer that the company’s motto seemed to be: ‘Stay calm when you are content, remain calm when you are upset.’
The corporate atmosphere established by Yamauchi shaped how everyone at Nintendo operated, and this stemmed from his previous experiences in other firms:
“No matter how well the company was performing, Yamauchi would always speak sternly to employees. This was, of course, because Yamauchi had faced failures in various businesses, but in the toy and game sector, a quick-changing industry, it’s quite normal to think this way.”
It’s interesting to look back and witness how the culture at Nintendo has evolved over time, yet that mindset propelled the developer forward, and it remains a force to be reckoned with today.
Initially known as Nintendo Koppai, the company was founded in 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, starting with hanafuda playing cards before branching into toys and ultimately diving into the gaming industry with the Color TV-Game in 1977 and the Famicom in 1983.
Nintendo has been remarkably proficient at c