The selling in Tokyo affected companies that had recently made strong gains such as Fast Retailing, the company behind the Uniqlo chain of stores, which was down 3.7% as well as exporters that were hurt by the stronger yen: Toyota Motor Corp. fell 3.4% and semiconductor manufacturer Tokyo Electron lost 5.3%.

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The 62-year-old Yanai, who founded parent company Fast Retailing in 1991, once declared that Uniqlo would try to become the world's biggest apparel company by 2020.

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But the name of his company, Fast Retailing (OTC: FRCOY), is less well known than his major store brand name: UNIQLO.

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