Overall consumer prices in Japan were up 3.3 percent on year in February, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday.
That was slightly lower than forecasts for 3.6 percent and down from 4.3 percent in January.
On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, consumer prices were down 0.6 percent versus expectations for a decline of 0.3 percent following the 0.5 percent increase in the previous month.
Core CPI, which excludes volatile food costs, was up 3.1 percent on year - matching forecasts and down from 4.2 percent a month earlier.
