09/10/2026
LONGEVITY AND BUSINESS LEADERSHIP
Kongo Gumi survived 1,428 years — 40 generations — through wars, fires, and earthquakes that burned its main temple, Sh*tenno-ji, seven times. What it could not survive was a leadership decision in the last 20 years. Below were its three assassins:
>Violation of its own operating philosophy
>Failure to read market transition
>Succession and isolation
To date, some companies have survived two world wars, three industrial revolutions, and nationalizations — and studies consistently show that leadership, an internal factor, has been the core determinant of that longevity.
