TIL Nintendo was founded in 1889 as a playing card company in Kyoto, Japan. They made traditional Japanese 'hanafuda' cards and didn't start making video games until the 1970s.

I think that the surprise is that Nintendo is as old as it is.

Japan has some very old companies. IIRC the oldest company in the world was a construction company in Japan that went under a few years ago.

kagis

Kongo Gumi. Guess I was wrong -- they didn't actually go under. Still around, but now a subsidiary of another company.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kong%C5%8D_Gumi

Kongō Gumi Co., Ltd. (株式会社金剛組, Kabushiki Gaisha Kongō Gumi) is a Japanese construction company, purportedly founded in 578 A.D.,[3] making it the world's oldest documented company. The company mainly works on the design, construction, restoration, and repair of shrines, temples, castles, and cultural heritage buildings. While Kongō Gumi historically specialized in traditional architecture, increased competition from major construction companies due to the growing use of concrete in shrines and temples resulted in the company becoming a subsidiary of the Takamatsu Construction Group in January 2006.[4][5]

Here's a list of the ten oldest companies in the world. The top five are all Japanese:

https://www.worldatlas.com/industries/the-oldest-companies-still-operating-today.html