Consumer prices in Japan were up 0.4 percent on year in June, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday.
That beat expectations for an increase of 0.3 percent, although it slowed from 0.5 percent in May.
On a monthly basis, inflation dipped 0.2 percent.
Core inflation, which excludes the volatile prices for fresh food, added 0.1 percent - unchanged from the previous month and above estimates for a flat reading.
On a monthly basis, core inflation was flat.
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