is one of the oldest and largest construction companies in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Founded in 1840, the company has its headquarters in Motoakasaka, Minato, Tokyo. The company is known for its DIB-200 proposal. The company stock is traded on four leading Japanese stock exchanges and is a constituent of the

Nikkei 225 The Nikkei 225, or , more commonly called the ''Nikkei'' or the ''Nikkei index'' (), is a stock market index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). It is a price-weighted index, operating in the Japanese yen, Japanese Yen (JP¥), and its compone ...

stock index. Kajima's services include design, engineering, construction, and real estate development. Kajima builds high-rise structures, railways, power plants, dams, and bridges. Its subsidiaries are located throughout Asia, Oceania, Europe, and North America. A downturn in the construction industry during the latter half of the 1990s prompted Kajima to expand its operations to the environmental sector, specifically waste treatment, water treatment, soil rehabilitation, and environmental consulting.

History

* 1840 - Iwakichi Kajima, the founder of the present-day company begins carpentry business in Edo (present day

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

) * 1860 - Kajima pioneers first western-style building in

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

(Ei-Ichiban Kan) * 1880 - Establishes Kajima Gumi * 1899 - Railway construction projects begin in Korea and Taiwan * 1923 - Great Kantō earthquake - Kajima participates in the reconstruction work * 1930 - Incorporation of the company (issues stock, capitalized at 3 million yen) * 1945 - Postwar reconstruction begins with Kajima's support * 1949 - Founds Kajima Technical Research Institute (the first construction research facility in Japan) * 1950 - Pioneers first joint venture with Morrison-Knudsen * 1957 - Completes Japan's first nuclear reactor ( Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute's Tōkai JRR-1 reactor) * 1959 - Construction of the

Tokaido Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed rail line that is part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. Along with the San'yō Shinkansen, it forms a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt, also known as the Tokaido corridor. Opening in 19 ...

begins * 1961 - The company is listed on

and

Osaka Stock Exchange , renamed from , is the largest derivatives exchange in Japan, in terms of amount of business handled. , the Osaka Securities Exchange had 477 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of $212 billion. The Nikkei 225 Futures, intro ...

s * 1963 - Becomes world no. 1 in construction (total contract value) :::Constructs facilities for 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games * 1964 - Establishment of Kajima International Incorporated (KII) in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, U.S. * 1968 - Japan's first high-rise building, the Kasumigaseki Building, is completed * 1975 - Founds PT. Waskita Kajima, as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

with Waskita Karya * 1987 - Establishment of Kajima Europe B.V. (KE) in the Netherlands * 1988 - Establishment of Kajima Overseas Asia Pte Ltd. (KOA) in Singapore :::The Seikan Tunnel, the world's longest tunnel, is completed * 1994 - Construction of

Kansai International Airport Kansai International Airport (), commonly known as Kankū (; ), is the primary international airport in the Keihanshin, Greater Osaka Area of Japan and the closest international airport to the cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe. It is located on ...

is finalized * 1998 - Akashi Kaikyo Bridge is completed :::Bought Waskita Karya's shareholding in Waskita Kajima, resulting Kajima as majority shareholder of the company. The company then renamed to Kajima Indonesia * 2001 - The

Suez Canal Bridge The Suez Canal Bridge, also known as the Egyptian–Japanese Friendship Bridge, Al Salam Bridge, Al Salam Peace Bridge or Mubarak Peace Bridge, is a road bridge crossing the Suez Canal at El-Qantara, whose name means "the peace" in Egyptian Arab ...

is completed * 2002 - Hawaiian Dredging is acquired from Dillingham Construction. * 2003 - Establishment of Kajima (Shanghai) Construction Co., Ltd. * 2010 - Construction of

Resorts World Sentosa Resorts World Sentosa (abbreviation: RWS) is an integrated resort on the island of Sentosa, which is located off the southern coast of Singapore. The key attractions within RWS include one of Singapore's two casinos, Universal Studios Singapore ...

in Singapore completed * 2011 - The company completed the construction of the

Dubai Metro The Dubai Metro () is a rapid transit system in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The metro system consists of a network of two main lines: the Red Line and the Green Line. A third line, the Blue Line, is scheduled to open in 2029. Du ...

(phase 1 and 2) * 2017 - Purchased Australian construction company Icon Construction

Demolition technology

The Kajima Corporation developed a building

demolition Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction (building), deconstruction, which inv ...

technique that involves using

hydraulic jack A jack is a mechanical lifting device used to apply great forces or lift heavy loads. A mechanical jack employs a screw thread for lifting heavy equipment. A hydraulic jack uses hydraulic machinery, hydraulic power. The most common form is a car ...

s to demolish a building one floor at a time. This method is safer, and allows for a more efficient

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the propert ...

process. In the Spring of 2008, the Kajima Corporation used this technique to demolish a 17-story and 20-story building, recycling 99% of the

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

and

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

and 92% of the interior materials in the process.

Film backing

The Kasumigaseki Building, built by Kajima, is the main subject of the film '' Chōkōsō no Akebono'', which was backed by Kajima.

Scandal

On March 2, 2018, the head of a division at Kajima was arrested by an investigative team from the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office on suspicion of having violated the Act on Prohibition of Private Monopolization and Maintenance of Fair Trade in connection with bidding for the

Chūō Shinkansen The is a Japanese maglev line under construction between Tokyo and Nagoya, with plans for extension to Osaka. Its initial section is between Shinagawa Station in Tokyo and Nagoya Station in Nagoya, with stations in Sagamihara, Kōfu, Iida an ...

maglev line. On March 23, the Fair Trade Commission issued a criminal indictment against both the head of the division and Kajima Corporation.

Footnotes

External links

Official site

{{Authority control Construction and civil engineering companies based in Tokyo Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Companies listed on the Osaka Exchange Companies listed on the Nagoya Stock Exchange Companies in the Nikkei 225 Japanese brands Japanese companies established in 1840 Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1840