The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 254.99 points or 0.87 percent to 28,967.78, after hitting a low of 28,846.52 earlier. Japanese stocks closed sharply higher on Wednesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 1 percent and Toyota is down 1.5 percent.
In the tech space, Screen Holdings is losing almost 2 percent, while Tokyo Electron and Advantest are down more than 1 percent each.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are losing almost 1 percent each, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.3 percent.
Among the major exporters, Canon is losing almost 1 percent and Sony is down more than 1 percent, while Panasonic and Mitsubishi Electric are declining almost 2 percent each.
Among the other major losers, Recruit Holdings is losing almost 3 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 134 yen-range on Thursday.Conversely, Nippon Sheet Glass is gaining more than 4 percent.
On Wall Street, stocks staged a recovery attempt in afternoon trading on Wednesday but still ended the day firmly in negative territory, after coming under pressure early in the session. The major averages all moved to the downside following the mixed performance seen on Tuesday.
The major averages pulled back well off their recovery highs going into the close. The Dow fell 171.69 points or 0.5 percent to 33,98.32, the Nasdaq slumped 164.43 points or 1.3 percent to 12,938.12 and the S&P 500 slid 31.16 points or 0.7 percent at 4,274.04.
The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index tumbled 2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.3 percent.
Crude oil prices climbed higher Wednesday, lifted by data showing declines in crude and gasoline inventories in the U.S. last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $1.58 or 1.8 percent at $88.11 a barrel.
