Komatsu is the world's second largest manufacturer of construction equipment and mining equipment after Caterpillar and was named after the city of Komatsu, Ishikawa, where the company was founded in 1917.

Komatsu produced its first agricultural tractor prototype in 1931.  After World War II, under its new president Yoshinari Kawai, Komatsu added non-military bulldozers and forklifts to its line of equipment.  In 1949, Komatsu began production of its first diesel engine and makes the D575, currently the largest bulldozer in the world.