Tokyo stocks opened higher on Friday tracking rallies on Wall Street, as investors looked beyond grim economic news to focus on easing coronavirus lockdown measures in parts of the US.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1.58 percent or 311.04 points at 19,986.27 in early trade, while the broader Topix index gained 1.27 percent or 18.18 points to 1,444.91.
"Japanese shares are testing the upside as investor sentiment improved thanks to a rebound in US shares and a slowing in the number of patients infected with coronavirus in Japan," said Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities.
The dollar fetched 106.36 yen in early Asian trade, against 106.26 yen in New York.
In Tokyo, blue-chip exporters were generally higher, with Sony advancing 1.27 percent to 6,878 yen, industrial robot maker Fanuc trading up 0.90 percent at 17,435 yen, and chip-testing equipment maker Advantest up 1.56 percent at 5,220 yen.
Nintendo dropped 3.60 percent to 44,440 yen on profit-taking after the Japanese gaming giant said it had notched up annual net profits of 258.6 billion yen ($2.4 billion) in the fiscal year to March, a gain of 33 percent from the year before.
Japan's household spending in March dropped 6.0 percent from a year earlier, as the virus slammed spending on leisure activities, clothes, and eating out, according to official data released before the opening bell.
On Wall Street, the Dow ended up 0.9 percent at 23,875.89.