Technology investor SoftBank Group fell 1.73%, dragging the Nikkei the most, followed by chip making equipment maker Tokyo Electron, which lost 1.4%. Staffing agency Recruit Holdings lost 3.1%. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries gave up its 2% gain to edge up 0.7% after Japan's H3 rocket, which it co-developed with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA), failed to lift off on Friday. Tyre makers jumped 2.97% to become the best sector among the 33 industry sub-indexes on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Bridgestone jumped 3.75% and was the best performer on the Nikkei after flagging an 11.5% increase in net profit for the year to December. Steel makers rose 2.33%. "For those who bought stocks, they chose value shares. Value shares are preferred when the U.S. Treasury yields are on the rise." (Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)