Kongo Gumi in Osaka, Japan

Atlas Obscura reports on Kongo Gumi, an Osaka-based construction company that holds the title of oldest company in the entire world. The company's history stretches back fourteen hundred years to five hundred seventy-eight AD, when Korean-born temple architects were recruited by a Japanese prince to build Shiten'nō-ji Temple, completed in five hundred ninety-three. Since then, Kongo Gumi has specialized in traditional temple and shrine construction, rebuilding that founding temple repeatedly as it faced destruction from warfare and natural disasters over the centuries. The company's expertise also contributed to restorations across Japan's architectural heritage, from Osaka Castle to the Imperial Palace. But when concrete became standard in shrine construction in the early two-thousands, the company faced an existential crisis. Kongo Gumi has since returned to its roots, refocusing on traditional architecture and restoration.

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