1,400-year-old Japanese Business Kaput
April 18th, 2007 by Claytonian
So what makes for a stable business in Japan? Building temples of course.
The world’s oldest continuously operating family business ended its impressive run last year. Japanese temple builder Kongo Gumi, in operation under the founders’ descendants since 578, succumbed to excess debt and an unfavorable business climate in 2006.
This quote comes from an article at BusinessWeek, that, while obvioulsy written from a business standpoint, is quite fascinating.
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More information, and a picture, can be found in a Chosun Ilbo article from 2005 about this:
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200512/200512150009.html
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… bummer.
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Well, this is depressing.
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Absolutely flabbergasting that business could be around for that long. Wow. Sorry to hear them go.
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I would have thought someone would at least scoop up the company to keep it going. There’s got to be some sort of value to be able to say that your company is over 1,400 years old, even if under new owners, or if it were to go beyond building just temples. In any case, it’s sad to hear the company is no more.
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Too bad the company failed, over 1,400 years later. What a put-down…
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