Japan’s new government, led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has ushered in an era of monetary easing in Japan since December, weakening the yen and making exports cheaper and Japanese stocks more attractive. From his party’s election in December to March, the yen is down 10.9% against the dollar. But sales are up and stock prices are skyrocketing at many of Japan’s leading companies. In fact the Nikkei is up in both yen and dollar terms (22.9% and 8.5% respectively), returning to levels not seen since 2008. That means impressive increases in the fortunes of Japan’s 50 wealthiest.
The collective wealth of Japan’s 50 Richest tops $112 billion. Tadashi Yanai occupies the top spot once again at $15.5 billion, a 46% gain from last year. The successful expansion abroad of his Fast Retailing has propelled rumors of an even bigger prize, such as acquiring the U.S.’ Gap. Masayoshi Son, Japan’s third richest ($9.1 billion), has made a play for his U.S. spoils, announcing in October a deal to acquire 70% of Spring Nextel for $20.1 billion. The tie-up is currently being reviewed by U.S. regulators.
[Read More at Forbes.com]
For those that are wondering Yoshikazu Tanaka (36) is single. Hiroko Takei (71) and Yoshiko Mori (72) are widowed. Yusaku Maezawa (37) is divorced. Within the list GREE, Inc.'s founder, Yoshikazu Tanaka is the youngest individual at 36 years old. Minoru Otsuka is the oldest individual at 89 years old. There are four women within the list, Hiroko Takei and Yoshiko Mori inherited the business from their husbands. While Chizuko Matsui (59) inherited her business from her father (with her husband marrying into her family). Tomoko Namba (50) is self-made
[no. 1 - no. 2]
| Rank | Name (age) | Net Worth ($Bil) | Source of wealth |
| 1 | Tadashi Yanai & family (64) | 15.5 | Fast Retailing |
| 2 | Nobutada Saiji family (67) | 10.7 | Suntory |
| 3 | Masayoshi Son (55) | 9.1 | Softbank |
| 4 | Hiroshi Mikitani (48) | 6.4 | Rakuten |
| 5 | Kunoi Busujima & family (88) | 5.2 | Sankyo |
| 6 | Akira Mori & family (76) | 5.0 | Mori Trust |
| 7 | Takemitsu Takizaki (67) | 4.7 | Keyence |
| 8 | Han Chang-Woo & family (82) | 3.4 | Maruhan |
| 9 | Keiichiro Takahara (82) | 3.3 | Unicharm |
| 10 | Masatoshi Ito (88) | 2.8 | Seven & I (7-eleven) |
[no. 11 - no. 20]
| Rank | Name (age) | Net Worth ($Bil) | Source of wealth |
| 11 | Shoji Uehara (85) | 2.50 | Taisho Pharmaceutical |
| 12 | Masahiro Miki (57) | 2.40 | ABC-Mart |
| 13 | Hiroshi Yamguchi (85) | 2.10 | Nintendo |
| 14 | Hiroko Takei & family (71) | 2.00 | Takefuji |
| 15 | Yoshikazu Tanaka (36) | 1.90 | GREE, Inc. |
| 16 | Yasumitsu Shigeta (48) | 1.65 | Hikari Tsushin |
| 17 | Kanazawa Brothers | 1.60 | Sanyo Bussan |
| 18 | Kinoshita Brothers | 1.56 | Acom |
| 19 | Katsumi Tada (67) | 1.52 | Daito Trust Construction |
| 20 | Kazuo Okada & family (70) | 1.50 | Universal Entertainment Corporation |
[no. 21 - no. 30]
| Rank | Name (age) | Net Worth ($Bil) | Source of wealth |
| 21 | Chizuko & Michio Matsui (59/60) | 1.40 | Matsui Securities |
| 22 | Minoru and Yuji Otsuka (89/59) | 1.34 | Otsuka Corporation |
| 23 | Shigenobu Nagamori (68) | 1.30 | Nidec |
| 24 | Tada Brothers | 1.26 | Sundrug |
| 25 | Soichiro Fukutake (67) | 1.25 | Benesse |
| 26 | Kagemasa Kozuki (72) | 1.20 | Konami |
| 27 | Hajime Satomi (71) | 1.17 | Sega Sammy Holdings |
| 28 | Ryoichi Jinnai (86) | 1.10 | Promise |
| 29 | Takao Yasuda (63) | 1.08 | Don Quijote |
| 30 | Kanbee Kokubu & family (73) | 1.07 | Kokubu |
[no. 31 - no. 40]
| Rank | Name (age) | Net Worth ($Bil) | Source of wealth |
| 31 | Nobutoshi Shimamura & family (87) | 1.06 | Shimamura |
| 32 | Akio Nitori (69) | 1.04 | Nitori |
| 33 | Yoshiko Mori (72) | 1.00 | Mori Building Company |
| 34 | Kazuo Inamori & family (81) | 0.96 | Kyocera |
| 35 | Masayuki Ishihara & family (64) | 0.93 | Heiwa |
| 36 | Hirokazu Sugiura & family (62) | 0.91 | Sugi Holdings |
| 37 | Yoji Sato & family (67) | 0.89 | Dynam Holdings |
| 38 | Muneaki Masuda (62) | 0.85 | Culture Convenience Club (Tsutaya) |
| 39 | Hiroshi Ishibashi (66) | 0.82 | Bridgestone Corp. |
| 40 | Nobuyoshi Fujisawa (43) | 0.82 | J Trust |
[no. 41 - no. 50]
| Rank | Name (age) | Net Worth ($Bil) | Source of wealth |
| 41 | Tetsuro Funai (86) | 0.75 | Funai Electric |
| 42 | Yusaku Maezawa (37) | 0.74 | Zozotown |
| 43 | Kentaro Ogawa & family (64) | 0.73 | Zensho |
| 44 | Yoshitaka Fukuda (65) | 0.63 | Aiful |
| 45 | Yasuhiro Fukushima (65) | 0.57 | Square Enix |
| 46 | Masahiro Noda (74) | 0.55 | Obic |
| 47 | Tomoko Nanba (50) | 0.55 | DeNA |
| 48 | Eitaro Itoyama (70) | 0.50 | Shin Nihon Kanko |
| 49 | Hiroyuki Inoue | 0.45 | Yamato Kogyo |
| 50 | Shoichiro Toyoda (88) | 0.40 | Toyota |
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