How Japan's Oldest Builder and Three Ancient Inns Have Survived for Centuries

Four businesses with roots more than 1,300 years deep

Kongo Gumi began building temples in 578. Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan started welcoming travelers in 705, followed by Sennen no Yu Koman in 717 and Hoshi Ryokan in 718. As of October 10, 2025, all four Japanese businesses continue to operate, placing them among the oldest companies in the world.

Their survival spans empires, wars, pandemics and market cycles. One builds and preserves sacred structures. The other three are ryokan, traditional Japanese inns whose appeal rests on hot spring baths, food, setting and attentive hospitality. Each has kept a recognizable purpose while changing how the business is run.

Family leadership and the passing of knowledge between generations run through their histories. So do careful investment, close ties to customers and communities, and the treatment of reputation as something worth protecting. Their experience offers a window into why Japan has more companies that have operated for at least a century than any other country.

Continuity has sometimes required a change in ownership or management. Kongo Gumi became a subsidiary of a larger construction group in 2006 after financial trouble. Keiunkan moved to professional management in 2017 after 52 generations under one family. The work and the welcome endured even when the arrangements behind them changed.

The central challenge has been practical: preserve the skills, service and sense of place that customers value, while repairing buildings, updating equipment and finding people capable of taking responsibility. These four businesses show how much can change around an enterprise while its purpose remains familiar.

Kongo Gumi keeps its craft through a change of ownership

Kongo Gumi was founded in 578 in what is now Osaka. Historical accounts describe master builders arriving to help construct early Buddhist temples, and its first great project is linked to Shitennoji. Over the centuries, the company developed a specialty in designing, repairing and preserving wooden sacred buildings.

A family scroll from the 17th century documented 40 successive leaders. That record points to a task beyond choosing the next person in charge: passing on the knowledge needed to continue the work. Temple carpentry depends on the selection of wood and on joinery, the craft of fitting wooden parts together.

Kongo Gumi also brought modern methods into that tradition. It explored reinforced designs combining concrete and timber to protect historic buildings, and adopted computer aided design long before many peers. Those tools improved planning and precision while retaining traditional craftsmanship.

Japan's exposure to earthquakes makes that combination especially relevant. A company working on fragile cultural sites must preserve their character while meeting safety standards. New materials and design methods can help address both demands.

Heavy debts and a weak construction market forced a major change in the early 2000s. In 2006, Kongo Gumi became a subsidiary of Takamatsu Construction Group. Its brand and specialization continued under new ownership, with group resources supporting finance and operations. The company still works on cultural heritage projects, showing how the survival of a craft business can depend on accepting a different corporate structure.

Keiunkan builds its welcome around water and place

Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan has welcomed travelers since 705 at the foot of the Southern Alps in Yamanashi Prefecture. The world's oldest working hotel grew around natural hot springs, which remain central to the experience of staying there.

The inn operated under one family for 52 generations before moving to a professional manager in 2017, as the family prepared a new phase of stewardship. Its 37 rooms, intimate baths supplied by natural sources, and dining based on local ingredients and seasons keep its focus on a relatively small, personal setting.

Historical records and lore name the daimyo Takeda Shingen and Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu among its famous visitors. A daimyo was a regional lord, while a shogun was a military ruler. Members of the Imperial family have also stayed in recent years. For guests, however, the enduring attraction is the mountain setting, flowing water and quiet service.

Keiunkan's approach reflects omotenashi, a Japanese understanding of hospitality in which staff anticipate needs, respect privacy and make people feel welcome without a show of attention. That kind of care helps explain how a ryokan can maintain the loyalty of guests across generations.

Modernization has concentrated on comfort and reliability. Plumbing and heating systems were upgraded to sustain the flow from the springs, and earthquake safety was strengthened. Rooms retain tatami flooring, low tables and views toward nature. The changes support a familiar experience rather than replacing it with something more elaborate.

Koman's history is woven into Kinosaki Onsen

Sennen no Yu Koman dates to 717 in Kinosaki, a hot spring town on the Sea of Japan side of the country. Family chronicles trace its founders and successors through 46 generations. Its wooden architecture and baths supplied by the town's thermal waters connect the inn to the wider resort.

Kinosaki's appeal extends beyond any single place to stay. Visitors walk between public baths wearing light yukata robes, enjoy seasonal seafood and move through a compact town suited to walking. Koman's rooms and its own baths sit within that shared network of places and customs.

The inn developed alongside Kinosaki. As the town added public bathhouses and rail access improved, Koman refined its accommodation and service. It kept its own identity while benefiting from the reputation of the resort around it.

Koman's records also describe rebuilding after floods and earth tremors, and the patience needed to reopen in keeping with tradition. Returning guests often remark on the familiar welcome and meals even as facilities improve quietly. Its history links continuity inside the inn with the fortunes and recovery of the surrounding town.

Hoshi passes responsibility through 46 generations

Hoshi Ryokan began in 718 in Awazu Onsen, Ishikawa Prefecture. It is frequently cited as the oldest continuously run family business. Leadership has passed through 46 generations of the Hoshi family, with each steward responsible for protecting the house while arranging necessary repairs and updates.

The inn surrounds a Japanese garden. Guest rooms look toward water and stone, and pathways lead to baths supplied by the spring that first made the location attractive more than a millennium ago. The garden, rooms and baths together give guests a connection to the place's long history.

Hoshi has endured wars, recessions and changing tastes. During difficult periods, managers controlled costs, preserved staff and concentrated on the basics of hospitality. The aim was to keep the service and people that made the inn recognizable.

Changes to the garden and bath layout have been made with a light touch rather than through dramatic overhauls. Guests can experience that link to history without giving up comfort. The consistent rhythm of garden, water and tea helps explain why a stay at Hoshi has become a family tradition for many visitors.

Why old companies have a special place in Japan

Japan has tens of thousands of companies that have operated for at least a century, along with a smaller group whose histories stretch across many centuries. It has the world's largest number and highest concentration of very old businesses. Many are small or medium sized enterprises closely rooted in their communities.

The Japanese term shinise describes longstanding businesses that carry weight locally. Their owners see the company as a legacy to pass on, rather than simply a way to make money quickly. Trust and continuity matter alongside profit, shaping choices about borrowing, risk, leadership and relationships with customers and neighbors.

Many shinise work in fields where craft and service are central, including inns, confectionery, tea, sake and religious goods. Customers expect a familiar quality and style. Trust grows through repeated experiences over years, rather than through results measured only from one quarter to the next.

These businesses also help sustain local identity by supporting festivals, preserving artisanal methods and training apprentices. Owners describe themselves as custodians of a place as well as operators of a company. That relationship can earn loyalty that helps a business through difficult periods.

Succession can reach beyond the bloodline

Family ownership has been central to many of Japan's oldest firms, but choosing a successor has not always meant handing control to a biological child. Japanese tradition has long allowed adult adoption to fill gaps in leadership while keeping a business within a family framework.

The practice is known as mukoyoshi when a son in law is adopted. It allows a family to select a capable successor who can take responsibility for the enterprise. Research over the years has shown that adopted leaders can perform as well as, and often better than, sons who inherit by default.

The practical benefit is a wider choice of people able to carry on the work. A business can retain family stewardship while bringing professional management discipline to the task. That flexibility matters when the next generation has too few potential successors or lacks someone ready to lead.

Kongo Gumi and Keiunkan illustrate other ways to arrange continuity. One joined a larger group; the other moved to professional management. Across these different arrangements, the task remains the same: keep responsibility and knowledge from disappearing when a leader steps aside.

Patient finances still require difficult choices

Longstanding firms often favor durability over rapid expansion. Many avoid a stock market listing so they can operate without the pressure of quarterly targets. They maintain financial reserves, keep debt modest and accept slower growth in exchange for a better chance of lasting.

That approach shapes daily decisions. Businesses refine their core skills, update processes in measured steps and favor changes that can be reversed when circumstances demand it. Financial buffers give them room to cope with disruption in a country exposed to earthquakes, typhoons, economic booms and busts, and shifts in tourism and trade.

Kongo Gumi's financial trouble shows why the balance sheet deserves attention even in a company with extraordinary experience. Heavy debt and a weak market made independence unsustainable. Joining Takamatsu Construction Group preserved the brand and specialist work while changing the way the business was supported.

For an inn or craft business, reputation provides another kind of reserve. Guests who feel respected and see care taken with a place may forgive small imperfections. That goodwill can support customer loyalty while managers work through repairs, rising costs or a difficult trading period.

What changes, and what stays familiar

Kongo Gumi, Keiunkan, Koman and Hoshi have all adapted without abandoning their main work. The builder changed its tools, materials and ownership arrangements. The inns refreshed facilities and services while retaining the baths, food, surroundings and welcome that define a ryokan stay.

Their experience connects several practical habits. Modernization often happens behind the scenes, where it can improve safety, quality or sustainability without disrupting the parts of a visit that guests value.

• Keep the main purpose clear, whether it is building sacred spaces, caring for hot spring guests or making traditional goods.
• Update tools and materials through design software, stronger structures and better plumbing where they serve the work.
• Preserve the layouts, rituals and ingredients that give a place and its craft their identity.
• During lean periods, take on related work that fits existing skills and reputation rather than entering distant ventures.
• Train apprentices and staff so knowledge survives the retirement of a master or manager.
• Accept outside capital or join a larger group when an alliance can protect the legacy with limited disruption to its purpose.
• Keep family chronicles, design drawings and other records so each generation inherits knowledge of what came before.

These practices can improve the chances of survival by keeping decisions close to the business's identity and reducing the risk of damaging mistakes. The underlying discipline is to know which parts of the operation need changing and which parts give customers a reason to return.

Demographics and disasters test the next generation

Japan's aging and shrinking population poses a difficult test, especially outside major cities. Finding successors has become harder. A long history still leaves an inn needing someone to manage it and a builder needing people able to learn demanding skills.

Tourism can rise or fall with global events, as the pandemic showed. Natural disasters can force closures and expensive repairs. In some seasons, costs rise faster than room rates. Builders face stricter codes and material shortages, while very thin margins leave little room for mistakes.

A new generation of stewards is combining entrepreneurial skills with tradition. Some owners hire professional managers while preparing a future family successor. Training programs bring artisans from outside the region, widening the pool of people who can carry on specialist work.

Digital tools can make reservations, supply chains and maintenance easier to manage. Sustainability upgrades can reduce energy use without altering the guest experience. These are practical responses to present pressures, much as earlier generations repaired buildings and changed methods to keep their businesses working.

The four companies' histories share a clear pattern: stable purpose has depended on flexible decisions. Family succession, professional management, modern equipment and outside financial support have each played a part. Their continuity lies in carrying the work forward, with care for the people and places that give it meaning.

What to Know

• Kongo Gumi was founded in 578; Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan in 705; Sennen no Yu Koman in 717; and Hoshi Ryokan in 718.
• Kongo Gumi specializes in sacred architecture and became a subsidiary of Takamatsu Construction Group in 2006 after financial difficulties.
• Keiunkan has 37 rooms and moved to professional management in 2017 after 52 generations under one family.
• Koman's family chronicles and Hoshi's leadership history each span 46 generations.
• Japan has more companies operating for at least a century than any other country, many with strong community ties.
• Careful succession, financial reserves, craft training and measured modernization help support continuity.
• Adult adoption can widen the choice of successors while retaining family stewardship.
• An aging population, tourism swings, disasters and rising costs remain major challenges.