It's a very interesting list. I would like to learn more about the old Japanese firms listed. As some of the comments accompanying that article noted, they di

It's a very interesting list. I would like to learn more about the old Japanese firms listed. As some of the comments accompanying that article noted, they did not mention the Hudson Bay Company, which was incorporated in 1670 and still operates. But they did claim to limit themselves to listing family firms. It would be interesting to know if Japanese, Chinese, or Korean businessman had joint stock companies or something similar before they came about in Europe. I think the Chinese first did paper money. I read somewhere that Koreans have some ancient and sophisticated "lending club" tradition that may be the oldest expression of the idea of interest -- it is some sort of scheme whereby each member pays in a small fee each week, and a certain member receives all the money each week, determined by some formula.