Asano zaibatsu

Asano Sōichirō 浅野総一郎 founded Asano zaibatsu in 1884 after purchasing the Fukagawa Cement Works from the government with support from Shibusawa Eiichi 渋沢栄一 of the Shibusawa zaibatsu. Because the Asano zaibatsu had no bank of its own it relied on Shibusawa and Yasuda zaibatsu capital, but it was still "the fifth-largest" zaibatsu in Japan. It had 64 affiliated companies in 1940 and 94 in 1943. It almost monopolized the cement industry in Japan. "Often these companies are controlled through only a minority of shares, domination being accomplished by personal influence, and the manipulation of credit, supplies and outlets." Since 1945, when most of the zaibatsu were disbanded by Douglas MacArthur in occupied Japan, the Asano zaibatsu has spun off many companies.