Producer prices in Japan were up 0.3 percent on month in August, the Bank of Japan said on Wednesday.
That beat forecasts for an increase of 0.1 percent, which would have been unchanged from the July reading.
On a yearly basis, producer prices climbed 3.2 percent - in line with expectations and down from the downwardly revised 3.4 percent increase in the previous month (originally 3.6 percent).
Export prices were up 0.5 percent on month and down 0.8 percent on year, the bank said, while import prices slumped 0.9 percent on month and 15.9 percent on year.
