Tokyo shares rose 1.72 percent on Monday morning, buoyed by positive US jobs data that lifted US and European markets while the yen also weakened.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange climbed 147.23 points to 8,702.34 by the break while the broader Topix index of all first-section issues was up 1.38 percent, or 9.99 points, to 733.93.
"The US jobs data was the big catalyst, and stocks should rally on the improved economic conditions there," Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of equities at SMBC Nikko Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
The Labor Department said Friday that the US economy created a solid 163,000 jobs in July, well above the market forecast of 100,000, sending Wall Street surging.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 1.69 percent higher on Friday, while the tech-rich Nasdaq added 2.00 percent and the S&P 500-stock index rose 1.90 percent.
The jobs data suggested resilience in the slow-growing US economy and encouraged risk taking in Tokyo on Monday.
Shares in electronics giant Sharp, which dived almost 30 percent on Friday to their lowest level in nearly four decades on poor earnings results, hit a new all-time low of 176 yen in earlier Monday trade.
The shares rebounded to 184 yen by the break, down 4.16 percent from their previous close.
Inpex was up 4.90 percent at 449,000 yen after a rise last week in crude oil prices.
Toyota Motor was up 2.44 percent at 3,140 yen, after posting a huge on-year rise in quarterly net profit last week and lifting its full-year production forecast.
On currency markets, the euro fetched $1.2395 and 97.19 yen, compared with $1.2381 and 97.30 yen in New York late Friday. The dollar was at 78.42 yen, from 78.59 yen.