Kongo Gumi
Encyclopedia : K : KO : KON : Kongo Gumi
Kongo Gumi Co., Ltd. (株式会社金剛組; Kabushiki Gaisha Kongo Gumi) was until recently the world's oldest continuously-operating company, operating for over 1,400 years. Headquartered in Osaka, the family-owned construction company has origins dating back to the year 578, when Prince Shotoku brought Kongo family members from Baekje, Korea to Japan to build the Buddhist Shitennoji Temple, which still stands. Over the centuries, Kongo Gumi has participated in the construction of many famous buildings, including the 16th century Osaka Castle.
A 10-foot, 17th century scroll traces the 39 generations back to the company's start. As with many distinguished Japanese families, sons-in-law often joined the clan and took the Kongo family name. Thus, through the years, the line has continued through either sons or daughters.
Unfortunately, the company fell on hard times and went into liquidation in January, 2006. [link] Its assets were purchased by Takenaka Corporation. Before its liquidation, the company had over 100 employees and an annual revenue of $70 million in 2005; it had still specialized in building Buddhist temples. The last president was Masakazu Kongo, the 40th Kongo to lead the firm.
External link
- [Kongo Gumi Co., Ltd.] (in Japanese)
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.