* Automakers fall ahead of end of U.S. incentive plan
* Exporters slip too as yen edges up, investors take profits
* Fujitsu says sold Fanuc shares, revises up net forecast
* Views divided on Japan Aug 30 election
By Elaine Lies
TOKYO, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average slipped on Friday, dragged lower by Toyota Motor and slumping auto shares ahead of the end of a U.S. rebate programme, with investors nervous about moves in Chinese shares.
Exporters slipped in the wake of mixed U.S. economic data, with a slightly stronger yen also having an impact. High-tech exporters such as Kyocera were hit especially hard. One bright spot was Japan Airlines Corp (JAL), Asia's biggest carrier by revenue, which climbed 1.2 percent after saying it would start talks to merge its ailing air cargo business with a unit of shipper Nippon Yusen.
Analysts cautioned that a mixed bag of economic news, with positive U.S. manufacturing data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia offsetting disappointment with the second straight rise in weekly jobless claims, was keeping investors skittish.
"We're seeing a situation where stocks are rising in the midst of a still tough economic situation," said Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities.
"Stocks are likely to keep on rising, but it will be with dips along the way, and substantial gains will take time."
The benchmark Nikkei fell 1.3 percent or 133.10 points to 10,250.31 after rising 1.8 percent the day before. The broader Topix lost 1.2 percent to 947.22.
The Shanghai Composite Index opened down but soon edged higher, gaining 0.4 percent by mid-morning.
Japanese investors are awaiting results of an Aug. 30 election amid newspaper predictions, including from the Nikkei business daily, that the opposition Democratic Party may be headed for a landslide victory, trouncing the conservative party that has ruled for most of the past half-century.
"The market consensus is that the Democrats will win, and if they do it by a landslide this will do away with the current political paralysis and be good for the market," said Hiroaki Osakabe, a fund manager at Chibagin Asset Management.
But others said a Democratic win could be negative.
"They (the Democrats) want everything to be equal for everybody. This is not something a capitalist market can like," said Masayoshi Okamoto, head of dealing at Jujiya Securities.
"They say they're trying to be realistic but if they win that many seats they'll basically have a free hand with policies."
FUJITSU UP, CARS SKID Fujitsu Ltd gained 2.1 percent to 632 yen after it said it sold most of its shares in industrial robot maker Fanuc Ltd for 89 billion yen ($945 million), and it revised its 6-month net earnings forecast to a profit from a loss.
Fujitsu said it sold 11.976 million shares, most of its 5 percent stake in Fanuc, and it revised up its net earnings forecast to a profit of 15 billion yen on the proceeds of the sale from a previous forecast for a loss of 55 billion yen. But automakers lost ground after the U.S. government said it will suspend its popular "cash for clunkers" auto rebates on Monday as the programme's $3 billion budget runs dry, a month after it was launched.
Toyota Motor Corp, the world's largest carmaker, slid 2.7 percent to 3,990 yen, while Honda Motor Co shed 3.6 percent to 2,970 yen and Nissan Motor Co lost 4.5 percent to 682 yen.
The transport equipment subindex fell 2.9 percent to become the biggest decliner among other subindexes.
"There's no question that Japanese carmakers have a substantial exposure to the United States -- more so than, say, automakers from Korea," said Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.
The dollar dipped 0.3 percent to 93.88 yen, which hit exporters. Investors fret about a stronger yen because it eats into overseas profits when repatriated.
Canon Inc lost 1.1 percent to 3,500 yen and Sony Corp slipped 2 percent to 2,430 yen. Kyocera lost 1.1 percent to 7,310 yen.
Trade picked up slightly on the Tokyo exchange's first section, with 1 billion shares changing hands, compared with last week's morning average of 932 million.
Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones by nearly 4 to 1. (Editing by Michael Watson)