SOURCE OF WEALTH: Nintendo of America
FUNDING AREAS: Arts & Culture, TBD
OVERVIEW: Minoru Arakawa, his wife Yono, and family move their philanthropy through the Arakawa Foundation, which launched in 2016. Grantmaking has been modest and focused solely on backing a prospective performing arts center in Washington State.
BACKGROUND: Minoru Arakawa graduated from Kyoto University and MIT. Arakawa served as President of Nintendo of America for decades, and is credited with launching the video game revolution in the United States through the Nintendo Entertainment System, introduced in 1986. He also co-founded Tetris Online.
ISSUES:
ARTS & CULTURE: A nearly $200 million Eastside performing arts center, Arakawa Concert Hall, located in Bellevue, Washington received a $10 million gift from the Arakawas. The prospective center has been in the works for two decades. In the 2016 fiscal year, the foundation dispersed $1 million to Eastside performing arts center.
LOOKING FORWARD: It’s unclear exactly in what direction the Arakawa Foundation’s grantmaking will take. The couple have been living in the Bellevue area since the early 1980s, which suggests that grantmaking may benefit the region one day. Apart from conventional arts institutions, digital and media organizations should also keep an eye on this video game couple.
CONTACT:
Arakawa Foundation
1611 Evergreen Point Rd.
Medina, WA 98039
