TOKYO -- Roughly a decade has passed since MUFG Bank, Japan's largest lender by assets, set its sights on ASEAN as a key growth driver.

Retailer Aeon is among the most prominent Japanese companies from nonmanufacturing sectors to invest more in Southeast Asian in recent years. (Nikkei montage/Source photo by Shinya Sawai)
MUFG, Aeon, Uniqlo among firms targeting middle class as home market shrinks