(Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average opened higher on Tuesday as participants looked for signs of further easing from the Bank of Japan later in the day, while the softer yen continued to underpin market sentiment.

The benchmark Nikkei <.N225> was up 0.4 percent at 9,928.80, while the broader Topix <.TOPX> added 0.2 percent to 847.19.

(Reporting by Mari Saito; Editing by Joseph Radford)

Japan Bank of Japan Nikkei 225 Earth