On Wall Street, the Dow and S&P again closed at records, as US traders continued to bet Covid-19 vaccines and government stimulus would heal the US economy.
Toyota climbed 3.48 percent to 8,413 yen after it announced plans to sell electric vehicles in the US market, seen as a key step in its shift towards EVs.
SoftBank Group was down 0.32 percent at 1,414 yen on profit-taking after it said net profit rocketed to $11.1 billion in the third quarter, as stock rallies and asset sales helped solidify its recovery.
Bio-tech firm JCR Pharmaceuticals rallied 5.9 percent to 2,904 yen after a report said it will produce undiluted Covid-19 vaccine developed by the British drug group AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
Panasonic jumped 3.27 percent to 1,463 yen in its fifth straight session of rallies, after it said Thursday it has developed a cool box for storing coronavirus vaccines.
Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest was up 2.66 percent at 8,480 yen and chip-making equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron rallied 3.26 percent to 42,130 yen.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.42 percent or 113.38 points to 26,704.56 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 0.19 percent or 3.39 points at 1,776.03.