Tokyo - Tokyo stocks opened higher on Tuesday, following a rally on Wall Street as concerns over a possible global trade war eased.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 189.29 points to 20 955.39 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 15.15 points at 1 686.47.
The dollar traded at ¥105.53 in early Asian trade, up slightly from ¥105.21 in New York late on Monday.
"Investors are testing the upper limit of share prices after rallies in US stocks and a cap on a strong yen," Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities, said in a commentary.
"But the upward movement could be weighed down by testimony" from Nobuhisa Sagawa, a key Japanese official at the heart of a favouritism scandal that has dented Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's popularity, he noted.
His testimony under oath starts at 00:30 GMT - thirty minutes after the market opening.
Exporters were higher, with Toyota gaining 0.99% to ¥6 708 and Nissan trading up 1.49% at ¥1 121.5.
Panasonic jumped 2.86% to ¥1 615.5 after a brokerage firm upgraded its view on the shares.
Chip maker Renesas climbed 3.28% to ¥1 101 after a report that it plans to outsource auto chip manufacturing to Taiwan's TSMC.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial was up 2.00% at ¥701.7, also after a brokerage upgrade.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 2.8% to close at 24 202.60.
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