Kongō Gumi

In 578, Prince Shōtoku summoned a carpenter from the Korean kingdom of Baekje named Kongō Shigemitsu to build Shitennō-ji, one of Japan's first Buddhist temples. That commission, in what is now Osaka, started a family business that has never stopped working. Kongō Gumi has now operated for more than 1,400 years, passing through roughly 40 generations of the Kongō family and earning wide recognition as the world's oldest continuously operating company.

For most of that span, the firm has done one thing: design, build, restore, and repair shrines, temples, castles, and other heritage structures. Its carpenters and joiners developed techniques central to traditional Japanese architecture, and the company's own records document an unbroken line of craft knowledge. Business historians cite the firm in studies of corporate longevity, though some scholars question whether the founding date can be pinned precisely to 578, which is why reference works often say "purportedly."

Independence ended in January 2006, when debt and competition from concrete-based general contractors forced the company into liquidation. It emerged as a subsidiary of the Takamatsu Construction Group and continues to operate as a separate legal entity, still focused on heritage construction. Recent work includes a collaboration with architect Kengo Kuma on THE SILENCE – Furnished by ARMANI/CASA, a private residence unveiled in April 2026. The company remains based in the Shitennōji district of Osaka, near the temple that started it all. [edit]