Konami コナミ

Konami was founded on March 21, 1969 in Osaka by Kagemasa Kozuki as a jukebox rental and repair business; the company name is a portmanteau of the surnames of its three founders. It moved into manufacturing amusement machines in the early 1970s and was developing its own arcade games by the late 1970s.

Arcade hits such as Scramble and Frogger (1981) gave Konami its first international name recognition, and the company opened a US subsidiary in 1982. As a third-party publisher on Nintendo's Famicom, Konami built out major franchises including Castlevania (1986), Metal Gear (1987, later Metal Gear Solid), Contra, and Silent Hill, and it remains active today in both video games and soccer sim Pro Evolution Soccer / eFootball, alongside health-club and pachinko businesses.