Consumer prices in Japan rose 0.7 per cent in September compared to a year earlier, for the fourth consecutive month of increase, the Government said Friday.
The core consumer price index, a key measure of inflation which excludes fresh food, stood at 100.5 against a base of 100 for 2010, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said.
Higher electricity and gasoline prices, amid the fall in the value of the yen, are thought to be behind the latest figures.
Japan has been in the throes of deflation for more than a decade.
In April, the Bank of Japan decided to take aggressive monetary easing steps to achieve an inflation target of 2 per cent within about 2 years.
In June, the index rose 0.4 per cent in the first increase in 14 months.
A weaker yen is a factor contributing to the higher energy prices, as this increases the relative cost of imports.