The world's oldest company built Buddhist temples for over 1,400 years

The Japanese construction company Kongo Gumi is widely documented as the world’s oldest company, founded in 578 CE. According to tradition, a craftsman was brought from the Korean kingdom of Baekje to build one of Japan’s first Buddhist temples, Shitenno-ji in Osaka - and his enterprise endured.

For more than 1,400 years the firm specialized in designing, constructing, and repairing shrines, temples, castles, and cultural-heritage buildings. Temple work proved a remarkably durable business: as long as Japan maintained its religious architecture, Kongo Gumi had a trade.

Founded in the 6th century, the company outlasted dynasties, wars, and revolutions, remaining family-run for dozens of generations.

Its independent run finally ended in 2006, when, after financial difficulties, it was absorbed as a subsidiary of a larger construction group. The temple-building business, however, continues under the Kongo Gumi name.