On the last trading day of the week, the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Nikkei 225 index had risen by 0.5 percent and the broader Topix index by 0.6 percent, after a few hours of trading.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was up sharply, 2.4 percent.
In South Korea, the Kospi was up 0.4 percent.
The stock exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen remained closed for the weekend.
