Japan's 40 wealthiest businesspeople are worth $89.9 billion, up $10.7 billion from last year. An impressive gain but one that masks an uneven year for the country's tycoons. Twenty people are richer than last year, including eight of the top 10, helped by the yen's double-digit gain against the U.S. dollar. Six added more than $1 billion apiece to their fortunes.

The biggest gainer was the country's new No. 1, the retired and now largely low-profile Nintendo chairman, Hiroshi Yamauchi, whose net worth soared $3 billion in the past year and has tripled since 2006, thanks mostly to booming sales of the Wii gaming device. Close behind him is last year's richest member on the list, property developer Akira Mori, who gained $2.2 billion but not enough to stay on top.

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