Kongo Gumi

November 27, 2023 – John Abrams

Horyu Gakumonji (Asanuma, Dept. of Railways)

The commentator and historian Heather Cox Richardson says that omnishambles “a word coined in 2009 . . . means ‘a situation, especially in politics, in which poor judgment results in disorder or chaos with potentially disastrous consequences.’” We are in a time of omnishambles in our polycrisis world. Heartbreaking as this is, it does not deter me from continuing to highlight the stories I find about business as a force for good. I hope you all were able to have a peaceful Thanksgiving break with families and friends.

I stumbled upon the oldest company in the world.

A chapter in the book I’m writing is called “The 100-Year Company.” I use the term figuratively to identify companies that endure, that serve, that are driven by mission, and that honor, include, and often share ownership with the workers who build them. It’s not literally about one hundred years; it’s a way of thinking. It could be 50, or 200, or 500, or any other big number of years. Some of the companies I’ve found are much older.

Research for this chapter revealed Kongo Gumi. A Japanese builder of Buddhist temples and shrines founded in 578 CE, this company is now almost 1450 years old. After Kongo Gumi fell on hard times in 2005, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Takamatsu Construction, but it still operates with 120 employees doing the same kind of work using traditional methods combined with modern innovations. To this day, on the 1st and 15th of every month, the employees gather for a small prayer ceremony in remembrance of those responsible for the company’s beginnings. Long memories, right?

The story of Kongo Gumi’s longevity includes a devotion to agility over time, highly principled values, and extraordinary craft. Buddhist temples are traditionally built with a series of interlocking wooden parts, each of which can be independently removed and replaced as necessary. This construction method, which has led to the survival of some of the company’s earliest temples, feels like a compelling metaphor for the notion of the 100-Year Company. Such a company attends to maintenance, restoration, and reinvention over time as needed.

The timber framing methods Kongo Gumi used spread across Europe 1000 years ago. North American settlers used them widely in Colonial America. The industrial revolution’s emphasis on speed and efficiency largely rendered timber framing obsolete until a few passionate young New Englanders, like Tedd Benson, Ed Levin, and Jack Sobon, revived the practice in the early 1970’s. Later that decade, South Mountain Company’s first three buildings on the Vineyard – two houses and a barn – were timber framed.  We learned from books about Colonial timber framing and those timber framing renaissance pioneers.

South Mountain Company

In 1984, the North American Timber Framers Guild formed to educate builders and publicize the craft. The organization still thrives today. Their credo: Enriching Community through Craft. South Mountain Company has been a member since its early days. The methods are still used in some of our work, and South Mountain carpenters are always happiest when they’re making a timber frame.

Traditional Japanese building methods have been an inspiration to many of us, but I never knew about Kongo Gumi until now. The best information I found comes from an article by Irene Herrera on Works That Work, a website that is a treasure trove of creative ideas from a variety of realms and cultures.

When Prince Shotoku Taishi (572–622) commissioned the construction of Japan’s first Buddhist temple, Muhammad was growing up in Mecca and the Mayan Empire was flourishing in Central America. As Buddhism swept through Japan over the next millennium, Kongo Gumi flourished. It survived the pro-Shinto Meiji Period (1868-1912), when thousands of temples were destroyed in an attempt to eradicate Buddhism. It weathered the Showa Financial Crisis of 1927 by keeping pace with economic and technological developments.

It lasted, in part, due to its devotion to impeccable quality. New workers apprenticed for 10 years and trained for another 10 years to become master carpenters. The training was not only about how to do the work but how to live exemplary lives.

Another important characteristic was the ability to balance respect for tradition with the flexibility to meet changing conditions. The company was the first in Japan to combine traditional wood construction with concrete, and the first to use CAD software to design temples.

100-Year Companies don’t stand still. Their secret to survival is continuous learning and improvement. As I read about Kongo Gumi, I felt the thread of connection between South Mountain’s 50-year history and Kongo Gumi’s dramatically longer run. In recent years, South Mountain second-generation lead carpenters Rocco Bellebuono and Chris Wike have elevated the company’s timber framing practice and brought new capabilities that exceed those that came before. New learning. Continuous improvement.

Like Kongo Gumi, 100-Year Companies remember the past and anticipate the future, and they are driven by mission more than money.

South Mountain Company