Japanese stocks rose on Wednesday after recovering from five-week lows as the yen weakened against the dollar and helped restore investor sentiment.
The Nikkei share average rose 0.4 per cent to 18,894.37, crawling back from its intraday low of 18,650.33 hit in the morning, its weakest level since December 8.
The broader Topix gained 0.3 per cent to 1,513.86 and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 added 0.4 per cent to 13,563.75.
The dollar added 0.6 per cent to 113.32 yen, after hitting a seven-week low of 112.57 yen.
Investors are awaiting Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's speech on monetary policy for any hints on the outlook for rates and the economy.