Shigeki Maruyama carded a five-under-par 66 to climb into a share of the lead after the first round of The Championship by Lexus on Thursday.

The 40-year-old is playing his first full season on the Japan Tour in a decade and picked up seven birdies against two bogeys at the Otone Country Club.

Maruyama joins South Korean duo Kim Hyung-sung and Kim Kyung-tae and Wayne Perske at the top of the leaderboard.

Kazuhiro Yamashita, Katsunori Kuwabara, Masaya Tomida and South Korean Kim Hyung-tae carded matching 67s to lie one shot off the pace in a share of fifth.