* Many markets closed around the region, as well as London, U.S.

* Greenback stands tall after this week's bullish U.S. GDP report

By Lisa Twaronite

TOKYO, Dec 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar edged slightly down against the Japanese yen on Thursday, in extremely thin trade because of the Christmas holiday, but held on to much of its recent gains.

While Tokyo markets are open, many foreign investors are taking time off. Markets are closed in other key countries around the region, including Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea, and will be closed later in London and New York.

The greenback edged down about 0.1 percent on the day to 120.40 yen.

"There's not so much activity today, just a few pure commercial orders. There were some guys taking profits in the dollar-yen this week, but most people seem happy to be caught long," said Kaneo Ogino, director at Global-info Co in Tokyo, a foreign exchange research firm.

"The dollar is set to finish the year on a high note, after the GDP report," he added.

Revised gross domestic product figures released on Tuesday showed the U.S. economy grew at annualised 5.0 percent in the third quarter, which was its fastest pace in 11 years.

U.S. data on Wednesday showed that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week.

The dollar has gained around 14 percent against the yen so far this year, and logged a 7-1/2 year high of 121.86 yen earlier this month.

The euro was steady on the day at $1.2192, but was not far from a 28-month low of $1.2165 hit after the U.S. GDP data.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was also steady at 89.956, after it rose as high as 90.159 in the wake of the U.S. GDP report, its highest since March 2006.

Upbeat U.S. economic data provides evidence that the economy is steadily recovering, and heightens expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve is on track to eventually hike interest rates in 2015. That outlook is in sharp contrast to Japan and Europe, where monetary policy is expected to remain loose to stimulate growth.

Minutes of the Bank of Japan's November meeting released on Thursday showed that policy board members made a rare call on the government to steadily promote measures to restore the country's tattered finances a month after they expanded monetary stimulus.

At the November meeting, the central bank kept monetary settings unchanged after it took further easing steps in October to blunt the impact of sliding oil prices on its plan to achieve its 2 percent price growth target. It kept policy steady at a subsequent meeting in December.

(Editing by Eric Meijer)