* Nikkei jumps over 1 pct on optimism for U.S. economy * JAL dives after news of potential split, public fund report
* Tokyo market reopens after five-day weekend
TOKYO, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 1.4 percent on Thursday, with exporters such as Honda Motor Co rising after Federal Reserve statements that U.S. economic activity was picking up outweighed fears about a stimulus withdrawal by the Fed.
But Japan Airlines tumbled 11 percent after sources said the company might be broken up and after public broadcaster NHK reported it is planning to seek a taxpayer-funded bailout to overhaul its operations.
Though U.S. shares had originally risen sharply on Fed comments that economic activity was picking up, they reversed course in the last hour of trade on worries about the timing of the removal of some of the Fed's stimulus.
But analysts said Tokyo was taking the more optimistic stance.
"More than worries about the removal of any stimulus, I think the market is really starting to get a sense that things are improving -- this is why certain manufacturers that had fallen behind a bit are strong today," said Nagayuki Yamagishi, a strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.
"Basically, though, the Fed's comments do seem to be pointing the way to the exit."
The Fed's policy-setters met and kept interest rates unchanged, as expected, but they also said the U.S. central bank would slow purchases of mortgage debt to extend the program's life until the end of March -- a move seen as a step towards a measured withdrawal of its extraordinary support for the economy during the downturn.
Yamagishi noted while purchases of mortgage debt might be slowing, they would still continue until March.
Other market players agreed the Fed statement was being taken more positively than otherwise, with Wall Street's Wednesday fall likely being little more than profit-taking.
"U.S. stocks are simply moving a bit lower after recent highs. We need to wait and see whether this is anything more than a bit of natural consolidation," said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.
The benchmark Nikkei rose 148.05 points to 10,518.59, while the broader Topix rose 1 percent to 949.05.
JAL fell to 151 yen. Earlier this week, two sources familiar with the matter said lenders to JAL may seek to split the carrier between its profitable and loss-making parts.
Consumer lender Aiful Corp plunged 28 percent to 96 yen after it said it plans to halve the group's workforce and slash the number of its branches as the struggling Japanese consumer lender hopes to rebuild its business through restructuring.
Aiful, which last week asked creditors to let it to push back repayments on $3 billion in debt, said it plans to cut about 2,000 jobs, or about 49 percent of the group's total workforce, by February.
Honda rose 1.4 percent to 2,870 yen and Canon Inc edged up 0.3 percent.
Sony Corp climbed 2.7 percent to 2,660 yen. A Sony executive said on Wednesday that sales of the PlayStation 3 video game console jumped in the weeks after a $100 price cut last month, and strong demand could lead to empty shelves at retail. (Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)