Japan's New Richest Discount Clothing Store Founder Liu Jing Zheng

According to Reuters, Forbes magazine's annual ranking shows that Ryui Masa, the founder of Japanese discount clothing retailer Uniqlo, ranks first in Japan's richest list, with a total assets of $6 billion 100 million.

The financial crisis did not affect the strong performance of the discount brand UNIQLO. The 60 year old Liu has been making a net increase of $1 billion 400 million in personal assets over the past year, from the original sixth to Japan's richest man.

Last year's richest man in Japan was Nintendo's former chairman, Shan Nei PU.

In 2008, the price of Fast Retailing, which runs more than 800 UNIQLO clothing chains in the year, rose by 63%, making it unique in Japan's bleak stock market.

Ryui Masa owns 26.7% of the company.

As the second largest economy in the world, Japan's economy has continued to decline in recent years and has experienced further recession. But UNIQLO has become one of the few prosperous retailers. Its low price but new basic clothing is catering to the increasingly cautious taste of Japanese consumers.

Forbes said that last year only 4 of Japan's top 40 billionaires grew in net assets.

Wang Xiaonan: editor in charge