This thread about family trees got me to wondering what the oldest existing company is? In the referenced thread, Robot Arm mentions that there is a Japanese construction company that can trace itself back to 578 CE. Does anyone know of any older than that?
Previous thread: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=144433
Yes, there’s a Japanese company that beats all rivals. But in the western world, it depends how you define ‘company’, how you define continued existence, etc.
