(Updates with closing levels)

By Brigid Riley

TOKYO, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average

climbed nearly 3% on Friday and notched its best week in more

than four years, as strong U.S. retail sales data soothed fears

of a recession in the world's largest economy and Japan's top

trading partner.

The Nikkei closed 3.6% higher at 38,062.67, locking

in its second-largest daily gain for the year, while the broader

Topix finished up about 3% at 2,678.60.

The Nikkei logged its biggest weekly gain since April

2020, rising over 8%, buoyed by easing concerns about the state

of the U.S. economy, a pause in the yen's rapid appreciation and

a pick-up in Japan's economic growth.

Wall Street's main indexes closed higher on Thursday after

U.S. retail sales increased 1% in July following a downwardly

revised 0.2% drop in June.

The rally was broad-based, with 219 of the Nikkei's 225

constituents advancing against 5 decliners, while shares of many

big names surged.

Nikkei heavyweight Fast Retailing ( FRCOF ) jumped 6.2%,

while chip-related share Tokyo Electron ( TOELF ) gained 4.8%,

along with peer Advantest ( ADTTF ), adding 6.8%.

Meanwhile, the yen weakened against the dollar overnight in

a boost to Japan's export-related shares like automaker Toyota

Motor ( TM ), which rose about 2%.

The Nikkei fell more than 12% on Aug. 5 in its biggest

single-day decline since Black Monday amid a storm of concerns,

including U.S. recession fears sparked by a weak jobs report and

a sharply stronger yen.

It has since clawed back those losses but remains well off

an all-time peak of 42,426.77 touched in mid-July.

"The market is gradually recovering from last week's shock

but I don't think we'll see it completely shaken off until the

August nonfarm payrolls data," said Kyle Rodda, a senior

financial market analyst at Capital.com.

"That will tell us whether the sell-off was a knee-jerk

reaction or a rational response to a meaningful growth shock."

Among individual shares on Friday, electrical component

maker Fujikura ( FKURF ) rallied over 11% to become the biggest

percentage gainer.