Tokyo stocks fell 0.61 percent on profit-taking in the morning session Friday following a four-day winning streak, while Wall Street provided a mixed and largely uninspiring lead.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange eased 54.49 points by the break to 8,924.11, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares decreased 0.42 percent, or 3.16 points, to 748.68.
"With the index approaching its near-term peak, investors are likely to take profits and square their positions before the weekend," said Rakuten Securities senior market analyst Masayuki Doshida.
Wall Street ended broadly flat Thursday after a seesaw day of trade despite modestly promising US jobs and trade data, brokers said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 10.45 points, or 0.08 percent, at 13,165.19, but the broader S&P 500 index added 0.58, or 0.04 percent, to 1,402.80, although the tech-rich Nasdaq put on 7.39 points, or 0.25 percent, to 3,018.64.
US initial claims for unemployment insurance, an indicator of the pace of layoffs, fell 6,000 to 361,000 in the week to August 4.
Meanwhile, the trade deficit for June fell for the third straight month as exports continued to climb while imports decreased.
The dollar edged up to 78.65 yen Friday morning in Asia from 78.55 yen in New York late Thursday following a rise on the US data.
The softer yen, however, was not enough to help Japan's Nikkei index, typically an aid for local exporters, brokers said.
Olympus was down 3.13 percent by noon at 1,389 yen after it announced Thursday a wider net loss for the three months to June, compared with the same period in the previous year.
-- Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this report --