Ohbayashi provided most of the construction associated with a Toyota plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, as well as a new headquarters building for the Takeda Pharmaceutical Company. By the same token, they are expected to abide by the mores of Japanese society, as Japanese construction companies have abided by the customs and laws of the overseas societies in which they operate. For Japan's part, any fair competition is welcome as long as the competitors stick to the rules. Ohbayashi has more than 11,000 employees, including 6,000 with advanced degrees or professional licenses, and more than 200 who are specifically considered research scientists. Research and development expenditures as a function of revenue are about the same as the other large general contractors, around 10 percent.
Research is viewed as crucial to continued success of the company.
I spent most of my time reading about and speaking to staff in the Computational Engineering Department, but a quick summary of the other departments is given below. The Technical Research Institute is located in Kiyose City, about 20 km northwest of downtown Tokyo. It sits on 70,000 m2 of land with about 18,000 m2 of interior floor space. The facility was opened almost 4 years ago, but Ohbayashi has had a research department since 1948. The latter is also called the Base Isolation Building and is claimed to be the first such building actually constructed.