Japan posted a merchandise trade deficit of 432.4 billion yen in April, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday.
That beat expectations for a shortfall of 613.8 billion yen following the 755.1 billion yen deficit in March.
Exports were up 2.6 percent on year, shy of forecasts for an increase of 3.0 percent and slowing from 4.3 percent in the previous month.
Imports were down an annual 2.3 percent versus expectations for a fall of 0.3 percent after climbing 7.3 percent a month earlier.
