1.
family business; family-owned company
A company whose ownership and/or management is concentrated in the hands of a single family or a small number of related families. The term covers everything from small neighborhood shops to large publicly listed corporations in which the founding family retains a controlling stake or holds key executive posts.
うちは同族企業だ。
Ours is a family business.
Family-owned companies have the advantage of being able to make decisions quickly.
Composed of 同族 (same family; same clan) and 企業 (enterprise; company). The 族 here refers to the family lineage rather than ethnicity.
Usage
A neutral, descriptive term used in business news, accounting and tax contexts, and corporate governance discussions. Note the specialized tax-law sense: under Japan's Corporation Tax Act, a 同族会社 is a company in which three or fewer shareholders together own more than 50% of the shares — a status that triggers special anti-tax-avoidance rules. Outside of tax law, the everyday meaning is broader and synonymous with 'family business.' The reading どうぞく is fixed; do not confuse with 同属 'of the same genus.'
Common collocations
- 同族企業を経営する: to run a family business
- 同族企業を継ぐ: to inherit/take over a family business
- 大手同族企業: a major family-owned company
- 同族企業の後継者: successor in a family business
Similar words
- 同族会社: family company — narrower technical term used in tax law
- 家族経営: family management — emphasizes management by family members; often a smaller scale
- 老舗: long-established business — emphasizes age and tradition; many 老舗 are also 同族企業
- ファミリービジネス: family business — katakana loanword, common in MBA-style writing