Maruyama overcame a bogey on his second hole by making four birdies to move alongside South Korea's Kim Kyung Tae at 11-under 202 at the par- 71 Otone Country Club in Ibaraki Prefecture.

The 40-year-old Maruyama last won in Japan at the Bridgestone Open in the year before he moved to the United States to play on the U.S. PGA Tour.

Kim, who shared the overnight lead with Toshinori Muto, had five birdies against three bogeys in a 69, while Muto matched par and tied Australian Wayne Perske (69) for third on 9-under.

Hideto Tanihara, Nobuhiro Masuda and Makoto Inoue all had 67s and were a further three strokes back with Katsunori Kuwabara, who had a 69.

Toru Suzuki, who ended a five-year title drought with victory at last week's Mynavi ABC Championship, was tied for ninth at 5-under.

The field is missing money leader Yuta Ikeda, teenage sensation Ryo Ishikawa and Shingo Katayama, who are all competing in the prestigious HSBC Champions in Shanghai.