The Tokyo stock exchange started upwards, with the Nikkei 225 index at plus 0.6 percent and the broader Topix index at plus 1.1 percent at lunch local time.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng was simultaneously down 0.1 percent. Shanghai and Shenzhen's composite index were simultaneously up 0.1 and 0.3 percent, respectively.
The Kospi index stood at minus 0.3 percent.
The declines are led by stocks linked to the production of microchips and some pharmaceutical companies, after US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that announcements of new tariffs aimed at these industries will come "within the next week or so".
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