zaibatsu

Japanese industrial conglomerate (see cartel). By the end of the 20th century these conglomerates had been replaced by keiretsu, meaning networks of companies that are entwined.

The old, family-owned Japanese zaibatsu had been involved in the military build-up preceding World War II, and in 1945, after the country's defeat, were broken up by the authorities of the US occupation. Similar conglomerates soon formed in the course of Japan's industrial revival. By the late 1980s there were six keiretsu with 650-member companies between them, employing 6% of the country's workforce and controlling more than 2% of the world economy.