The Nikkei advanced 0.5 percent to end at 16,642.23. For the week, the benchmark index dropped 1.1 percent.
Trading was subdued before the outcome of the U.S. jobs report later in the day as investors continue to assess the prospects of the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates at its June 14-15 meeting.
Hong Kong shares rose to one-month highs on Friday to cap a third straight week of gains, but trading remained thin, reflecting investor caution of a possible U.S. rate hike later this month.
Worries about the health of the Chinese economy and Britain's referendum on June 23 on whether it should remain in the European Union are also tempering risk appetite.
The Hang Seng index rose 0.4 percent, to 20,947.24, while the China Enterprises Index gained 0.6 percent, to 8,809.81 points.
For the week, Hang Seng was up 1.8 percent.
China stocks posted their best weekly gain since March, buoyed by growing hopes that MSCI will add Chinese shares to its index later this month and revive foreign interest in the struggling mainland market.
China's blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.7 percent to 3189.33, bringing its weekly gain to 4.1 percent.
The SSEC gained 0.5 percent to 2938.68 points, rising 4.2 percent for the week, breaking a 6-week losing streak.
But further gains were capped on Friday by worries about the slowing economy and downward pressure on the yuan currency.
Investors are awaiting a raft of China May data next week for clues on whether the economy is stabilizing. March data was encouraging, but April indicators and May business activity surveys have painted a weaker picture.
Growing expectations of a looming U.S. rate hike and the resulting boost to the U.S. dollar have also revived fears of more depreciation pressure on China's currency. Analysts polled by Reuters expect the yuan to weaken around 2.5percent over the coming year against the greenback.
Reference: Reuters
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