Japan's Nikkei share average edged down in choppy trade on Wednesday as investors took profits on recent gainers such as drugmakers, but expectations that companies will report good earnings contained losses.
The Nikkei ended 0.2 per cent lower at 19,869.76 after staying flat most of the day.
The broader Topix slipped 0.1 per cent at 1,588.81 and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 shed 0.2 per cent to 14,409.37.