Overall consumer prices in Japan were up 3.2 percent on year in March, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday.
That was in line with expectations and down from 3.2 percent in February.
On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, inflation rose 0.4 percent - exceeding expectations for a gain of 0.1 percent following the 0.6 percent decline in the previous month.
Core CPI, which excludes volatile food costs, was up 3.1 percent on year, matching forecasts and unchanged from the February reading.
On a monthly basis, core CPI gained 0.5 percent - also matching forecasts and up from 0.4 percent a month earlier.
