One of the "world's oldest continuously ongoing independent company" [0] also hails from Japan, although it became a subsidiary of another company awhile back
It is simply amazing that a company has survived for so long. How have they managed to maintain revenue, maintain a culture, manage tremendous social and political change for centuries??
They were a temple repair company. It's steady work that hasn't changed a lot (everyone respects the temples - there are monasteries in Europe of comparable age to this company, but they were maintained by monks or "ordinary" builders), and not an easy market for outsiders to break into.