Kabushiki-gaisha

Kabushiki gaisha (株式会社^?, lit. "stock companies") is a type of business corporation (会社 kaisha^?) defined under Japanese law.

In Japanese, "kabushiki gaisha" can be used as a prefix (e.g. 株式会社電通 Kabushiki gaisha Dentsū, which is called "mae-kabu") or as a suffix (e.g. トヨタ自動車株式会社 Toyota Jidōsha Kabushiki gaisha, which is called "ato-kabu")
Many Japanese companies translate the phrase "Kabushiki Kaisha" (KK) as "Co., Ltd." while others use the more Americanized translations Corporation or Incorporated

 The first kabushiki gaisha was the First National Bank of Japan, incorporated in 1873.