Its main areas of business are building construction, civil engineering, and real estate development.

Taisei Corporation has its roots in Okura zaibatsu (財閥) established by Baron Ōkura Kihachirō (大倉 喜八郎).

Following the dissolution of the zaibatsu after World War II, Taisei was restructured as an employee-owned corporation and is currently the only employee-owned Japanese large scale general contractor among the "super general contractors"; the other four are owned and controlled by families.

Taisei is also well known in Japan for its disaster resistant housing brand Palcon (パルコン).

Taisei was founded in 1873 as Okuragumi Shokai Company (大倉組商会, Ōkuragumi Shōkai).