Kongo Gumi workers in early 20th century

is a Japanese

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

. In January 2006, after falling on difficult times, it became a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

of the Takamatsu Construction Group.Announcement of business transfer from Kongō Gumi
Takamatsu Corporation IR Topics, 14 December 2005.
Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition), 15 December 2005.

History

Headquarter Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top ...

ed in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, Kongō Gumi was a family-owned construction

for over 1,400 years. A -long 17th century

scroll A scroll (from the Old French ''escroe'' or ''escroue''), also known as a roll, is a roll of papyrus, parchment, or paper containing writing. Structure A scroll is usually partitioned into pages, which are sometimes separate sheets of papyrus ...

traces the 40 generations back to the company's start. It has continued operation through the founder's descendants. The practice of sons-in-law taking the family name when they joined the family firm contributed to the Kongō Gumi's long existence. As with many distinguished Japanese families, sons-in-law often joined the clan and took the Kongō family name. This allowed the company to continue with the same name when there were no sons in a generation. Thus, through the years, the line has continued through either a son or a daughter. Another factor for the company's longevity is the Buddhist temple construction business, which has been a reliable mainstay due to millions of Buddhist adherents. Over the centuries, Kongō Gumi participated in the construction of many famous buildings, including the 16th century

Osaka Castle is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and it played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Layout The main tower ...

. Kongō Gumi was one of the first construction companies in Japan to use concrete with wood to build temples after the

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

. They also pioneered the use of CAD for temple design. The company fell on hard times and went into liquidation in January 2006, and was purchased by the Takamatsu Construction Group. Before its liquidation, it had as few as 100 employees. In 2005 it had annual revenue of ¥7.5 billion (US$70 million), and it still specialized in building Buddhist temples. The last president was Masakazu Kongō, the 40th Kongō to lead the firm. , Kongō Gumi continues to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Takamatsu Construction Group.

References

External links

Kongō Gumi
website

- Introducing documentary program about reconstruction process of Kongō Gumi with Takamatsu () {{DEFAULTSORT:Kongo Gumi Construction and civil engineering companies of Japan Engineering companies of Japan Companies based in Osaka Prefecture Companies established in the 6th century Companies disestablished in 2006 2006 disestablishments in Japan 578 establishments 6th-century establishments in Japan Shitennō-ji

History

See also

References

External links