Core consumer prices in Japan spiked 0.4 percent on year in June, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday - marking the fastest annual increase since November.
The data also sparks hope that the country may finally be starting to pull out of the deflationary spiral in which it has been trapped for more than a decade.
The numbers likely are in response to the aggressive policy measures that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the Bank of Japan have put into place. The BoJ has set a target of 2 percent inflation in two years.
The headline figure beat forecasts for an increase of 0.3 percent on year following the flat annual reading in May.
Overall inflation was up 0.2 percent on year, also topping expectations for a 0.1 percent increase following the 0.3 percent contraction in the previous month.
By category, prices for fuel jumped 5.7 percent on year, followed by communication (1.8 percent), education (0.5 percent) and clothing (0.2 percent).
The gains were offset by furniture costs, which dipped 2.4 percent, recreation (1.2 percent), food (0.9 percent) and housing (0.5 percent).
Both overall CPI and core inflation were flat on month after adding 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent on month, respectively, in May.
By category, prices for fuel climbed 1.0 percent on month, while medical care costs were up 0.1 percent.
Furniture prices were down 0.4 percent and recreation costs dipped 0.3 percent.
Core inflation for the Tokyo region - considered a leading indicator for the nationwide trend - was up 0.3 percent on year in July. That was in line with expectations and up from 0.2 in June.
Overall CPI for Tokyo jumped 0.4 percent on year, beating forecasts for 0.2 percent following the flat reading in June.
By category, prices for fuel spiked 9.0 percent on year, followed by communications (1.2 percent) and education (0.3 percent).
The gains were offset by furniture costs, which lost 2.5 percent on year, while recreation costs lost 1.0 percent, medical care was down 0.8 percent and housing dipped 0.7 percent.
On month, core CPI in Tokyo was flat, while overall inflation added 0.2 percent.
By category, fuel costs were up 1.1 percent on month, while costs for communications and food were up 0.8 percent apiece.
Clothing prices declined 3.0 percent on month, while medical care eased 0.3 percent and housing fell 0.2 percent.
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