loan association; mutual financing association
A traditional Japanese mutual financing group where members contribute regular payments and take turns receiving the pooled funds. The term is somewhat dated; modern equivalents are often called 無尽会社 or simply 無尽.
In the past, people raised funds to build a house through a loan association.
無尽 is a broader term for mutual financing or inexhaustibility, while 無尽組合 specifically refers to the organized group.
頼母子講 is another traditional rotating savings and credit association, similar in concept but with different regional or historical usage.
Compound of 無尽 (mujin, 'inexhaustible' or 'mutual financing') and 組合 (kumiai, 'association'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term refers to a traditional rotating savings and credit association.