* Investor confidence helped by Dow's 8-day winning run
* Eyes on Japan Aug. 30 election, post-election policies
TOKYO, Aug 28 (Reuters) - The Nikkei share average rose 0.5 percent on Friday as exporters such as Kyocera Corp gained, with investors encouraged by a strong run-up on Wall Street, while Japan's Aug. 30 election and Chinese stock moves attracted attention.
Analysts say investors have factored in a big win for Japan's opposition Democratic Party in the election and the focus is now shifting to post-election events, including who will be the next finance and economy ministers.
"The view on economic fundamentals hasn't changed, but the market seems to lack a clear direction lately as it doen't have additional factors to keep pushing higher," said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.
"The election result will likely be neutral for the market (on Monday) as it hadn't moved in relation to the election to begin with. Rather, the focus will be whether the new administration can implement measures that will have an impact on corporate earnings and the economy in the mid- to long-term."
The Democrats lead Prime Minister Taro Aso's Liberal Democratic Party in newspaper polls ahead of the election. An opposition victory would end more than five decades of almost continuous rule by the LDP and raise the chances of breaking a stalemate in a divided parliament.
The benchmark Nikkei added 56.30 points to 10,530.27, after falling 1.6 percent the previous day.
The broader Topix inched up 0.4 percent to 967.73.
The Dow industrials posted an eighth straight day of gains on Thursday led by Boeing Co. The U.S. aircraft manufacturer said its long-delayed 787 Dreamliner would make its first flight by the end of the year.
Market players said moves in the Chinese market will be also in focus. News from China helped curb investor confidence on Thursday after the country's state council said it would restrict licences for steel and cement production to clamp down on overcapacity.
Exporters recouped some of their lost ground, with Kyocera up 2 percent at 7,670 yen and TDK Corp adding 0.7 percent to 5,460 yen.
Toyo Tire & Rubber Co jumped 3.7 percent to 227 yen after saying on Thursday it will invest 10 billion yen ($107 million) to build a tyre factory in China.
But Toyota Motor Corp was flat after saying it would end its production contract with NUMMI, a California plant it has shared with General Motors for 25 years, by March 2010. (Reporting by Aiko Hayashi; Editing by Hugh Lawson)