Kongō Gumi is founded
A firm that would stay in business for over 1,400 years
The carpenter Kongō Shigemitsu was invited from the Korean kingdom of Baekje to build the Shitennō-ji temple and founded a building firm. Forty generations of Kongōs ran it, and it stayed independent until 2006 — the world's oldest documented company.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 6th century
Did you know
Japan's Kongō Gumi stayed independent for 1,428 years, from 578 to 2006. A carpenter brought from Korea to build a temple founded it, and 40 generations of his descendants built and repaired temples until another company bought it. Share →
The Japanese company Kongō Gumi is older than Islam: it was founded in 578, 44 years before the Hijra — Muhammad's move to Medina, from which the Islamic calendar counts its years. Share →
Alive at the time
- Muhammad (aged 8)
- Khosrow I (aged 77)
- Prince Shōtoku (aged 4)