The Nikkei gained 0.9% to 23,400.70 points, and the widened Topix index recovered 0.4% to 1,671.86 points.
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The Tokyo Stock Exchange ended higher on Thursday, driven by a sharp weakening of the yen against the dollar and the euro, a move that puts concerns related to the coronavirus in the background.
At the end of the trade, the Nikkei 225 star index rose 0.43% to 23,479.15 points and the widened Topix index 0.16% to 1,674.48 points.
Both increased significantly more at the start of the session.
The yen fell sharply against the dollar, which is seen as a better investment under the current circumstances. The fall in the Japanese currency is improving the affairs of Japanese companies.
On the coronavirus front, Wednesday evening, the Ministry of Health of Japan announced more than 80 new cases of contamination in the archipelago (including 79 on the cruise ship Diamond Princess in quarantine south of Tokyo where the total rose at 621).
On Thursday, the authorities also announced the deaths of two octogenarians who were ex-passengers of the liner and who had contracted the virus.
In China, where the epidemic first appeared and developed, the death toll now exceeds 2,100 dead and a total of at least 74,500 people have been infected there, according to the most recent official report.
On the side of values in Tokyo
About half of the industries represented in the Nikkei 225 index were shown in green.
DOPED ENERGY
The energy sector was the locomotive of the rating, with a gain of 1.11% for both Idemitsu Kosan (at 2,903 yen) and for Cosmo Energy (at 2,000 yen). JXTG Holdings for its part gained 0.64% to 468.3 yen.
TOYOTA AND HONDA ON THE WHEEL HATS, NISSAN CALE
Sensitive to the yen / dollar price, the title of the leading Japanese automaker, Toyota, jumped 2.77% to 7,752 yen, Honda jumped 2.21% to 3,041 yen but Nissan, which is going through a bad pass, declined 0.03% to 504.4 yen.
On the currency and oil side
The greenback was worth 111.40 yen on Thursday around 6:00 GMT, against 110.04 yen Wednesday after the close of Tokyo, the benchmark for Japanese investors.
The Japanese currency also weakened against the euro, which traded Thursday afternoon for 120.30 yen, against 118.75 yen the day before after the Japanese financial centers closed.
The European currency was playing the yoyo around 1.0800 dollar after falling to a low in 3 years. A euro was traded Thursday at 06:00 GMT for 1.0797 dollars against 1.0804 Wednesday at 20:00 GMT.
Oil prices were still climbing Thursday in Asia after already experiencing strong growth on Wednesday. Around 6:00 GMT, the price of a barrel of American crude WTI took 0.47% to 53.54 dollars and the price of a barrel of Brent of the North Sea rose by 0.42% to 59.34 dollars.
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