Monex Group, owner of bitcoin exchange operator Coincheck, surged 11.08% as bitcoin jumped after Tesla Inc revealed it had bought $1.5 billion of the cryptocurrency and would soon accept it as a form of payment for cars.
Pandemic-beaten transport shares gained, with West Japan Railway rising 5.19% and East Japan Railway gaining 3.47%. Japan Airlines jumped 4.2% while ANA Holdings rose 1.7%.
ANA Holdings fell 2.42% after Jiji press reported the airline would post its worst current profit for nine months through December. Japan Airlines fell 1.77%.
The stocks that gained the most among the top 30 core Topix names were Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd up 2.26%, followed by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp rising 1.95%.
SoftBank Group dropped 1.8% after China launched an investigation into Alibaba Group for suspected monopolistic behaviour and will summon its Ant Group to meet in coming days.