Nintendo Probably Doesnt Mean What You Think It Does The common assumption is that Nintendo means leave luck to heaven or even to leave ones fortune in the hands of fate. Those assumptions, however, could be wrong. In Japan, Nintendos official logo still uses the kanji characters, so its important to understand what they could have originally meant to company founder Fusajiro Yamauchi. For all the companys logo changes, this is a constant for Nintendo Co., Ltd. The phrase Nintendo is said to refer to isun wo ten ni makaseru or, as its often translated, leave luck to heaven or as leave fate to heaven. As Kotaku also mentioned in this article, that doesnt take into account the association the individual kanji characters have in Japanese, nor does it take into account Nintendos history. The interpretation of ten in Nintendo is typically viewed from a literal point of view, with ten being defined as heaven. As mentioned in The History of Nintendo by Nintendo Dream writers Florent Gorges and Isao Yamazaki, ten contains the same kanji character as used in the word for the mythical being Tengu. Below is a statue of Tengu. Whats the connection The History of Nintendo 1. From Playing Cards to Game Watch explains that when Nintendo was originally founded in the late 1. Watch Mean Creek Online Hulu' title='Watch Mean Creek Online Hulu' />Yamauchi was brainstorming ways to get his company out of a hanafuda sales slump. The companys pricey cards were not doing well, so Yamauchi came up with the idea of selling lower quality cards under the name of Tengu. In 1. Fusajiro Yamauchi had founded the establishment or Nintendo Koppai, with koppai meaning cards. Note the characters can also be read as karuta, also meaning playing cards. The selection of Tengu was no accident. Tengu was already a symbol for playing cards and illegal gambling. Watch full episodes and clips of Primetime, Daytime, Late Night and Classic shows on CBS. Talk with other fans, catch up with your favorite shows and more. Breaking News, Sports, Weather, Traffic, and the Best of Tampa. The reason for this is that the Tengu character has a long nose, and the Japanese word for nose hana is pronounced the same as the word for flower hana. The playing cards Nintendo was making, hanafuda, uses the kanji for flower, because each card is covered in different flower. The phrase guilty pleasure has long outlived its usefulness. If you really like a song or a movie or a TV show, no matter how cheesy the conventional. The Nintendo Switch exists, and is a fantastic gaming system that you can, in a pinch, play in a bar, a car, or on the train. Phones exist too, and the games on them. According to The History of Nintendo, those visiting the pleasure quarters of Osaka and Kyoto would rub their nose as a sign that they were looking for gambling games. For card players, ten meant Tengu, which meant gambling. The connection between hana and Tengu would not have been lost on Yamauchi. However, its not possible to discount the importance of luck or rather, good fortune for Nintendo. The old Kyoto headquarters is covered with the kanji character fuku. Fuku, however, is different from un in the leave luck to heaven expression. In Japanese, fuku is good fortune, happiness, or referring to being lucky, while the word un refers to fortune and luck. Its undecided. Thats an importance difference. The company was later incorporated as Yamauchi Nintendo Unlimited in 1. Then in 1. 94. 9, it established Marufuku Co., Ltd after World War II once the sale of foreign playing cards, banned during the war, resumed. The headquarters for this building is the old Nintendo heardquarters fans visit in Kyoto. Marufuku Co., Ltd. The reason why the kanji fuku is all over this building in circles is because maru means circle in Japanese. In photos from blog Hodohodo, you can see the character fuku in a circle all over the building. You can also see the company name Yamauchi Nintendo. There are reasons for this. There are five decades between when the Nintendo was coined and when this company was dubbed Marufuku, so the use of good fortune doesnt necessarily explain any nuances in the meaning of Nintendo. In 1. 95. 1, the companys name was changed to Nintendo Playing Card Co., Ltd and then finally to its current moniker Nintendo Co., Ltd in 1. According to the book, do which means shrine or sanctuary is frequently used by Japanese companies to add prestige to their name. Its not uncommon to see Japanese supermarket chains or bookstores with do at the end of their names to add prestige to their name. Shop the Temple of Savings If one translates nin as let someone do, as Gorges and Yamazaki have, the word Nintendo could then mean the temple of free hanafuda or the company that is allowed to make or sell hanafuda. Nin can also refer to duty or obligation, with much weightier connotations. However, according to other experts, nin has an even more overt etymological connection it could be a nod to the actual gamblers that played hanafuda. Tokyo Vicewriter Jake Adelstein asked two current members of the yakuza how they interpreted the companys moniker. Their opinion was exactly the same. Its apparently commonly thought that the nin in Nintendo is the nin from ninkyo or chivalry. According to Adelstein, The yakuza dont think of themselves as criminals, because they argue that they are ninkyo dantai, aka humanitarian groups. The concept of chivalry, or ninkyo, is synonymous with the yakuza. Whether true or not, they claim that the nin character in Nintendo comes from the word ninkyodo or chivalrous way, which is how the yakuza think of themselves, says Adelstein. NBCU_Bravo/131/26/170112_3453418_Mark_Gets_Trapped_By_the_Guest_He_Hooked_Up_.jpg?itok=LRHa0S3V&timestamp=1484266473' alt='Watch Mean Creek Online Hulu' title='Watch Mean Creek Online Hulu' />Like many things, only the founder really knows. As The History of Nintendo points out, Hiroshi Yamauchi, the great grandson of the companys founder, admitted that even he does not know the true meaning of the companys name, saying that to leave ones luck to heaven was a plausible explanation. Plausible, sure. Likely Probably not. Plausible and easier to explain than going through historical context. The book does acknowledge that there are no archives or historical records that can validate or invalidate interpretations of the companys name. This article was originally published on September 2. It has been updated and expanded. The History of Nintendo 1. Florent Gorges in collaboration with Isao Yamazaki. Gorges, who writes for Japanese magazine Nintendo Dream, was involved in the organization of the Nintendo Museum exhibition in Osaka in 2. He also heads up Pixn Love Editions, which published a French edition of my book on Japanese game centers, Arcade Mania. How To Stream MediaInternet on Your TV For FreeThis is part 2 of our 3 part series on how to save money with your cable, phone, and internet bills while also FAILING at the same time. You can find part 1 here. Were back Last article we went over how to get home phone service for practically free by using Ooma, and this time around were tackling the heated CableTV part of the telecom trifecta. And just like with our home phone line, I unfortunately screwed myself multiple ways in this department too one of which out of frugality itselfSee that big honkin TV up there Thats ours. Its large, paid off, 1. Except when its not and your hacking attempts go to hit. SighLets start with why we were messing around with TV in the first place. Plain and simple, were tired of paying 1. We still want all three parts in our lives notice the want there and not need except for the internet, we just know there are cheaper ways to go about it if you harness creativity and newfangled technology. So just like with our cell phones last month, and car insurance and home phone service this month, we set out to tackle the TV portion of this outrageous bill all in the spirit of challenging everything. And why do we still want cable TV Well, Ill let my wife answer that part Do you know what its like to grow up as a kid without cable You cant take it away from me now that I have it I love it And you can tell your blogging friends that too. Thats reason 1 Obviously outside of my control, unless I fancy myself a divorce. Watch Flags Of Our Fathers Full Movie. Reason 2 is that I too enjoy a handful of the offerings TV and premium channels serve up. I can live without them no doubt about it, but Id be lying if I said I dont enjoy my reality shows and HBOShowtimes to catch some of my favorite series. Shows like Game of Thrones, Homeland, True Detective, The Leftovers, and more recently Ray Donovan. My wife calls him my current man crush, and I wouldnt totally disagree with her  Liev Schreiber is a bad ass now Like the complete opposite of Cotton Weary from back in the old Scream days, hahaAnyways, the point is were not ready to get rid of TVs luxuries all the way yet, but we are wanting to scale back and save some dough in the process. Here was the plan on how to accomplish this. First, find a way to get Netflixinternet onto our TV like all other modern rock stars. I get the appeal of watching it on your laptop, but after 1. I want do when unwinding. The second step call up Verizon and simply ask them to cut channels out and lower our bill Hah As if it were that easy. We figured if we could find a way to substitute our showsmovies over time by using the internet instead of Verizon, wed save a nice stash of cash like many of you are already doing and have the best of both worlds going on. Then, maybe, just maybe, my wife would be singing a new tune with those dollars in her pockets How to stream internet to your TV, way 1. So off I went I looked on Amazon for ways to hook up my TV to the internet, and came across a slew of options. There was Roku, Sungale, Apple TV, Amazon Fire and a ton more which I eventually got inundated with until I noticed that many Blu ray DVD players now come with built in wifi Who knew I had never heard of this as we never watch DVDs, but if you can stream the internet on it at the same time while saving that money I was bout it bout it. And since I thought you needed a DVD player to watch Netflix, it killed two birds with one stone. That was mistake 1 you dont need a DVD player necessarily you can STREAM showsmovies through Netflix too Oops. So I looked around and landed on the highly rated Sony BDP S5. D Blu ray that had built in Wi Fi for 8. That was mistake 2. Not because its a bad product or anything the reviews are great, but because IT DIDNT WORK WITH OUR TV I just assumed it would because why wouldnt it, right Heres our TV again in case you mysteriously missed it the first time Its large as hit 6. HDTV surprisingly enough, but it never occurred to me that it had long met its prime w technology. I of course knew it was ancient, but who looks at the  ports in the back when buying this stuff How would I know it didnt have the much required HDMI hookup thats apparently quite important with streaming and internet badassity I never thought twice, and because so paid a hefty penalty in both time and money w this lame hacking attempt of mine. Then there was mistake 3 waiting two months to open it up and try connecting everything. Meaning, I didnt realize it wasnt compatible until it was way too late to return it, thereby losing a cool 8. Of course, I can still hawk it and probably recoup most of that money since it retails for 1. Moving in the opposite direction here But wait for mistakes 4, 5, 6, and 7 first I thought I could outwhit myself and find a way to jigger around different cords and contraptions to see if that would save this debacle. So first bought a coaxial cable to see if that would do the trick the Blu ray and my TV both had slots for it but of course that didnt work you need HDMI Then I picked up an HDMI cord getting closer and tried plugging that into the DVD player which also connected the cable box, which then connected to the TV. Thats gotta work right Nope. I should have stopped there and ate the loss, but unfortunately I went on I wondered if you could somehow up convert the old stuff into the new stuff, and came across a handful of reviews saying you could by buying a converter doo hicky for those wanting to use new equipment with old TVS like DVD players. Exactly what I needed So I tried my hand at that dropping another 2. Mini HDMI to 3. RCA Composite AV Converter along with the appropriate cables another 5, and off I went to convert. That didnt work either. Though, I did muster up some resemblance of a conversion as I could at least then program the DVD player into the TV screen, however it was all pretty blurry and I managed to shrink the viewing size of the TV in half too. Damn. At the end of the day month, I was out another 5. So if anybody needs any And here is what weve learned so far Do you research before picking up electronics Dont wait for forever to see if it works. Hold onto your patient pants and dont go dumping more money into something with a tiny of working.