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Tokyo stocks closed slightly higher on Friday as rallies on Wall Street helped improve investor sentiment, but a stronger yen limited the gains.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.09% to end at 21 627.34 while the broader Topix index was up 0.17% at 1 617.11.
"Trade lacked a sense of direction with positive factor from rallies in US shares offset by negative impact from a higher yen against the dollar," said Mutsumi Kanamori, strategist at Daiwa Securities.
The dollar fetched ¥110.80 in Asian trade, little changed from ¥110.82 in New York on Thursday but lower than ¥111.55 in Tokyo on Wednesday.
The Tokyo market was closed on Thursday for a national holiday.
Japanese consumer prices for February rose a sluggish 0.7% in February from a year earlier, according to government data released 30 minutes before the opening bell, as the world's third-largest economy continues its years-long battle to stoke inflation.
The market shrugged off the latest reading, which was slightly higher than expectations of 0.4% inflation.
In individual trading Friday, chip-related shares surged, after the US tech sector enjoyed strong gains.
Chip-making equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron rallied 5.19% to ¥16 515 and chip-testing machine maker Advantest jumped 6.17% to ¥2 578.
Small car specialist Suzuki jumped 3.48% to ¥5 080 after it said it would strengthen a business tie-up with Toyota.
Pharmaceutical company Eisai nose-dived 16.54% to ¥7 565 after it said it had halted a joint study of Alzheimer's drug with US-based Biogen.
