Asano zaibatsu

The Asano zaibatsu was a major second-tier Japanese conglomerate founded in 1884 by Asano Soichiro with backing from the industrialist Shibusawa Eiichi, operating across industries including cement, steel, shipping, railways and utilities. It almost monopolized the cement industry in Japan and grew to encompass 64 affiliated companies by 1940 and 94 by 1943, ranking as the fifth largest zaibatsu in the country despite lacking its own bank and relying on capital from other zaibatsu; it was disbanded in 1947 when most zaibatsu were dismantled under Allied occupation following World War Two.