[1] The group emerged after World War II and coalesced around the Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank.
Two of DKB's largest clients, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Furukawa Electric, led their own respective corporate groups with a cross-supply relationship between the two.
The Kawasaki and Furukawa groups agreed to begin holding presidents' meetings in 1966.
[2] Itochu, which historically supplied Kawasaki with raw materials, became the main general trading company for the combined group.
[4][6] The next few years saw a parallel consolidation of their keiretsu industrial partners[4] and saw the group grow to 150 trillion yen in assets (30% GDP).