* Hokkaido Electric tumbles after powerful quake
* Inbound-related stocks such as cosmetics makers fall
* Tech shares weak tracking U.S. peers
By Ayai Tomisawa
TOKYO, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei fell on Thursday as tech shares were pressured by losses in their U.S. peers overnight and as investors awaited damage assessments after a powerful earthquake in Hokkaido, the latest in a series of natural disasters to hit the country this year.
At least one person was killed and 32 were missing after the 6.7 magnitude quake paralysed the northern island, triggering landslides and knocking out power to its 5.3 million residents. A nuclear plant, which had been shut, lost power but no radiation incidents were reported. Electric Power Co 9509.T tumbled more than 5 percent after it said it conducted an emergency shutdown of all its fossil fuel-fired power plants after the quake. Tourism-related stocks were also under pressure.
The Nikkei share average .N225 dropped 0.5 percent to 22,458.70 points by midmorning.
The broader Topix .TOPX fell 0.6 percent to 1,695.65. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones 1,421 to 588.
"On top of a typhoon early this week hitting the Kansai region, the earthquake is stoking concerns of a possible fall in inbound tourism demand and potential damage to businesses," said Shogo Maekawa, a global market strategist at JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) Asset Management.
Japan began on Wednesday to clean up after typhoon Jebi killed 11 people, injured hundreds and stranded thousands at Kansai Airport, an important hub for companies exporting semiconductors in western Japan.
Thursday's decliners included chip equipment makers Tokyo Electron 8035.T and Advantest Corp 6857.T which shed 1.1 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively, while TDK Corp 6762.T declined 1.3 percent.
Companies which benefit from inbound tourism also lost ground. Cosmetics makers Shiseido Co 4911.T dropped 1.0 percent and Fancl Corp 4921.T tanked 2.4 percent.
Copper smelter Furukawa 5715.T dived 8.4 percent after Nikkei Inc., operator of the Nikkei benchmark index, which is set for an annual reshuffle, said on Wednesday that it will delete the stock from the index. (Editing by Kim Coghill)