Tokyo shares closed 0.76 percent lower on Thursday as the yen remained strong, despite a decision by the US central bank to keep its easy money policies in place to bolster the world's biggest economy. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended down 105.31 points at 13,694.04, while the Topix index of all first-section shares fell 0.44 percent, or 5.09 points, to 1,153.28. "Foreign investor interest remains strong, but it has eased back without overarching buy catalysts of late," said Kenichi Hirano, market analyst at Tachibana Securities.

Indonesian inflation eased to 5.57 percent on-year in April due to lower food prices after the government eased some import restrictions, official data showed on Wednesday. It slowed from 5.90 percent in March, but it was still above the upper limit of the central bank's target range of 3.5-5.5 percent. In particular, a "drastic drop in garlic prices" helped to push inflation lower last month, said statistics agency chief Suryamin, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

Tokyo stocks opened 0.06 percent lower on Tuesday in subdued trading after a three-day weekend as the yen remained relatively strong against other major currencies. The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange was down 8.39 points to 13,875.74 at the first few minutes of trading. The Tokyo markets were closed Monday and will be off again Friday for the Golden Week holiday. "A weaker dollar from last Friday continues, and that will pose the biggest challenge for stocks in a reduced investor environment," said Tatsunori Kawai, chief strategist at kabu.com Securities.

Japanese automaker Honda said Friday its net profit for the year to March soared 73.6 percent to $3.7 billion, thanks to robust overseas sales, a weaker yen, and cost cutting. The rosy bottom line figure underscores a recovery among the nation's major automakers after Japan's quake-tsunami disaster in 2011 devastated sales and production, and highlighted strong demand in the key Asian and US markets.