Small Black Box
April 18, 2007 | permalink

Kongo Gumi, a Japanese Buddhist temple building company, recently folded, succumbing to debt and a general downturn in the temple building market in these modern times. While businesses close their doors all the time, this particular instance is of special note because Kongo Gumi was the world's oldest continuously operated private business, founded in the year 578. That's not a typo, Gentle Readers. 578 AD. As in 1429 years ago. Staggering, isn't it?

For those of you who are curious, there is an article in Business Week discussing the factors that allowed Kongo Gumi to have such longevity, and how those things might be applied in other businesses. But it didn't touch on what I really would like to know: Did the founder of Kongo Gumi think, even in his wildest dreams, that his company would exist for 14 centuries? Or were his goals slightly more short term? A strange thing to wonder about, maybe, but I wonder nonetheless.

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