JOIN USTokyo stocks opened higher on Wednesday, shrugging off falls on Wall Street.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.29 percent or 85.11 points at 29,493.28 in early trade, while the broader Topix index edged up 0.07 percent or 1.31 points to 1,896.16.
Investors were watching other Asian shares seeking fresh clues for trade, analysts said.
The dollar fetched 106.70 yen in early Asian trade, against 106.68 yen in New York late Wednesday.
In Tokyo, automakers were among winners, with Toyota trading up 0.45 percent at 7,959 yen and Honda up 2.61 percent at 3,072 yen.
Nissan was up 2.22 percent at 597.4 yen, after a US father-son pair accused of helping former boss Carlos Ghosn in his audacious escape from Japan arrived in Tokyo late Tuesday, having lost their battle against extradition.
Takeda Pharmaceutical was up 2.69 percent at 3,775 yen after reports said its partner US biotech firm Moderna is planning to file in Japan for approval of its coronavirus vaccine as early as Friday.
On Wall Street, the Dow ended down 0.5 percent at 31,391.52 while the broad-based S&P finished down 0.8 percent and the tech-rich Nasdaq dropped 1.7 percent.