An index monitoring the manufacturing sector in Japan came in with a score of 51.1 in May, the latest survey from Markit Economics revealed on Monday - up from 49.9 in April.
That pushes the index into expansionary territory, as a score above 50 signals growth in a sector while a reading below means contraction.
Among the individual components of the survey, the output index rose for the first time in three months to 51.8 - signaling expansion.
New orders also moved into growth, while input prices, stocks of purchases, stocks of finished goods and quantity of purchases continued to expand.
New export orders, employment, backlogs of work and output prices slowed, and supplier delivery times were unchanged.
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