Furukawa Co. Ltd., roots back to 1875, but was not officially established until 1918. Furukawa’s long history stems from Japan’s coal and copper mining and smelting industries. They were the first company in Japan to produce a rock drill, and it soon emerged as a leading manufacturer of mining and tunneling machinery. Today, it is a top manufacturer of mainline rock drills and truck mounted cranes. It also produces a full series of wheel loaders. As one of Japan’s keiretsu, the company is also involved in wide cross section of other businesses, which include, real estate, chemical production, mineral production, smelting and mining, electronic materials and energy. Before they became one of Japan’s most prolific mining barons and industrialists, Ichibei Furukawa, the founder of the Furukawa empire, was involved in Japan’s silk trade. Ichibei worked for the Ono-Group in Kyoto. In 1874, the Ono-Group went bankrupt and Furukawa attempted to operate his own silk trade enterprise, but failed. When silk proved not to be profitable, he turned to mining, operating a mine for the Somo family in the Tohoku region.Then in 1877, he purchased the Ashio Copper Mine at Asakura from the Japanese Government. By 1885, the mine production peaked at 4,131 tons of copper annually-which was 39% of Japan’s total copper output. Then by 1900, Furukawa owned 18 metal mines and four coal mines. In that same year, he also built a machinery factory at the Ashio Copper Mine. The factory was used to repair and assemble imported machines used at the mine. Eventually, the company began to develop and produce its own mining equipment. One of the first machines made by Furukawa was a rudimentary rock drill, consisting of an air operated impact tool designed to replace hammer and chisel drilling. Ichibei’s son took over the company after his death in 1903. The private enterprise he had built was later restructured into a family-owned corporation referred to in Japanese as a Zaibatsu. The Furukawa empire underwent further corporate restructuring in the years after the death of Ichibei. In 1911, it was reorganized into a general partnership company. In 1918, the company’s mining division, Furukawa Mining Co., was established to make the Metal Mining Division of the Furukawa General Partnership, an independent operating entity. In 1920, the company expanded its business operations forming the Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd., renaming the entire enterprise as Furukawa Co. Ltd. Stocks of the company were offered to the public in 1942, ensuring the company was no longer run as a family-owned zaibatsu. The company also spun off its Machinery Division, renaming it Ashio Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Then in 1944, Furukawa acquired the Osaka Smelting and Refining Co., Ltd. to launch their chemical business. In 1950, it finished construction on the Takasaki Works. This was later supplemented with the purchase of a flash smelting technology from a Finish Company in 1954. Furukawa also built flash smelting facilities at Ashio S melting and Refining Co. Ltd. In 1962, they developed their own small crawler loader; And today, it still builds 30 to 200 series wheel loaders. In 1970, Furukawa permanently got out of the coal business and 3 years later permanently shut down the Ashio Copper Mine. In 1986, it got into the business of building multi-story parking systems. In 1987, Furukawa acquired UNIC Corporation, which was a manufacturer of truck-mounted cranes. In 1990, it acquired an American breaker manufacturer. Starting in the 1990’s Furukawa began to market its rock drill products overseas.